I was in Truro Cathedral this afternoon with both my choirs as we rehearsed for a very special Carol Service, the ShelterBox Carol Service on December 19th.
AS I GROW OLD I WILL MARCH NOT SHUFFLE
As I grow old
Iwill not shuffle to the beat
of self-interest
and make that slow retreat
to the right.I will be a septuagenarian insurrectionist
marching with the kids. I shall sing
‘La Marseillaise’, whilst brandishing
homemade placards that proclaim
‘DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING’.I will be an octogenarian obstructionist,
and build unscalable barricades
from bottles of flat lemonade,
tartan blankets and chicken wire.
I will hurl prejudice upon the brazier’s fire.I will be a nonagenarian nonconformist,
armed with a ballpoint pen
and a hand that shakes with rage not age
at politicians’ latest crimes,
in strongly-worded letters to The Times.I will be a centenarian centurion
and allow injustice no admittance.
I will stage longstanding sit-ins.
My mobility scooter and I
will move for no-one.And when I die
I will be the scattered ashes
that attach themselves to the lashes
and blind the eyes
of racists and fascists.Brian Bilston
