Once in a lifetime
All winter and all spring I worked hard
not in a showing off kind of way
but I knew my extra sweat and labour were noticed
it was the least I could do
a bit like an advance payment
of my gratitude to come
For adventures such as these are only granted to people like me
once in a lifetime
if at all
And although I was hungry to strike out alone
beyond the confines of my all too familiar life
not to mention
to cross a sea and to journey through foreign lands!
I also knew that my family and my village
would be travelling with me
and that during the depths of winter
they’d be expecting my fireside pilgrim tales
with eager ears and flame-lit eyes
Once all the fields were planted
it was time for me to go
I felt as excited as I did a boy on Christmas eve
and yet as fearful too
as I did on Hallowe’en
The day before I left
my grandmother presented me with a leather money belt
punch-patterned with scallop shells
to wear beneath my tunic
She also showed me how to cut slits into the soles of my boots
and gave me some coins to sew within
special coins she called them
although she never once
mentioned
robbers
My whole family escorted me to the parish bounds
my father even hugged me
which he never did
You’d better be back in time for harvest, lad, he said
My little sister cried
but I promised I’d return with a special present for her
which made her smile instead
I felt like a ship leaving harbour for the very first time
a vast and dizzying ocean before me
And even though my belly and my heart and my breath were all trembling
I could feel the weight of those coins in my boots
and somehow that weight felt like love
and protection
and strength
and hope
all rolled into one
Whenever I turned around
they were all still waving
But once they were out of sight
and the church tower had disappeared into the swell of the land
I felt myself expanding into something
like a giant
who could cross a river in a single leap
or climb a hill in six or seven confident strides
And I found myself singing a song
I’d never heard sung before
and I felt the presence of the Lord
almost tangible beside me
In all my years faithfully, prayerfully attending church
never once had I experienced anything like this!
I am with you always, I could hear Him whispering
Even to the very ends of the earth
Oh how I laughed out loud to the sky and to the hedgerows and to the
deep drovers’ road that was now carrying me south
because everything suddenly seemed so
inside out and upside down
and yet so
clear and simple
and magnificent
and funny and
free
All winter and all spring I worked hard
not in a showing off kind of way
but I knew my extra sweat and labour were noticed
it was the least I could do
a bit like an advance payment
of my gratitude to come
For adventures such as these are only granted to people like me
once in a lifetime
if at all
And although I was hungry to strike out alone
beyond the confines of my all too familiar life
not to mention
to cross a sea and to journey through foreign lands!
I also knew that my family and my village
would be travelling with me
and that during the depths of winter
they’d be expecting my fireside pilgrim tales
with eager ears and flame-lit eyes
Once all the fields were planted
it was time for me to go
I felt as excited as I did a boy on Christmas eve
and yet as fearful too
as I did on Hallowe’en
The day before I left
my grandmother presented me with a leather money belt
punch-patterned with scallop shells
to wear beneath my tunic
She also showed me how to cut slits into the soles of my boots
and gave me some coins to sew within
special coins she called them
although she never once
mentioned
robbers
My whole family escorted me to the parish bounds
my father even hugged me
which he never did
You’d better be back in time for harvest, lad, he said
My little sister cried
but I promised I’d return with a special present for her
which made her smile instead
I felt like a ship leaving harbour for the very first time
a vast and dizzying ocean before me
And even though my belly and my heart and my breath were all trembling
I could feel the weight of those coins in my boots
and somehow that weight felt like love
and protection
and strength
and hope
all rolled into one
Whenever I turned around
they were all still waving
But once they were out of sight
and the church tower had disappeared into the swell of the land
I felt myself expanding into something
like a giant
who could cross a river in a single leap
or climb a hill in six or seven confident strides
And I found myself singing a song
I’d never heard sung before
and I felt the presence of the Lord
almost tangible beside me
In all my years faithfully, prayerfully attending church
never once had I experienced anything like this!
I am with you always, I could hear Him whispering
Even to the very ends of the earth
Oh how I laughed out loud to the sky and to the hedgerows and to the
deep drovers’ road that was now carrying me south
because everything suddenly seemed so
inside out and upside down
and yet so
clear and simple
and magnificent
and funny and
free
