Tessa Ransford, distinguished Scottish poet and founder of the Scottish Poetry Library, sent me this in response to Friday’s post about Syria. She says: “I wrote this poem about three weeks ago after hearing Canon White from Iraq speaking on a Sunday morning interview on Radio Scotland.”
Faith, Hope and Charity
wrote St Paul in his hymn to Love
these three abide
In Iraq, explains Canon White on the radio,
Democracy is not what people yearn for
blasted on them as it was through missiles and bombs
What they most want, why can’t we understand,
is water, electricity and kindness
life, communication, things working normally
God only knows
Buddha only knows
Mohammed only knows
everyone knows we want the kindness
which lies at the heart of our being
For boys and girls, men and women, animals and plants
for all who go about their lives
for daily bread and caring for one another
it is kindness we want
In Scotland we have given a song to the world
‘a cup of kindness’
Water, electricity and kindness,
but the greatest of these is kindness.
Tessa Ransford
April 2011
A Few Kind Words 