Copyright © 2020 Maddy Hamey-Thomas So you'd better have some ideas to start with
And if you find ideas lacking
You'll need to turn, dumbstruck, to conversation
And blindly, to experience.
If you suffer, know that others suffer too.
You can use this knowledge to add a shadow
To the sketch of your ideas,
So that we know that they are tangible.
Your life has a shape.
But this is not enough for action and it is not
Enough for activism, and we know this and we know this and we know this
And we know this.
To have principles, so steadfast
In the mind they are like the suspension wires
On bridges, holding weight and
Beauty and flexing (when the current demands it)
An eyesore when you are up close... But inextricable
To footfall and progress.
A conviction, or belief, or ideology,
Despite history having proven its risks and flaws - if you
Are batting for the wrong team that is...
It's the only practical way we know
How to try and change things
Because we cannot waver for long.
They do not make a person perfect...
They are direct and they are unparalleled
And they are functional and efficient, and German.
But they do take great strength to uphold
They can take courage to voice
They need patience to match the knowledge
Of the limited time we have to get things right.
Unavoidably afraid of being wrong-footed,
I consider my ideas.