A Woven Image
In Memoriam: Robert John Davis
26th April 1978 – 25th April 2025
A friend and a colleague in the Work.
On Being Woven
The way is full of genuine sacrifice.
The thickets blocking the path are
anything that keeps you from that,
any fear that you may be broken to bits
like a glass bottle.
The road demands courage and stamina,
yet it is full of footprints.
Who are these companions?
They are rungs in your ladder. Use them!
With company you quicken your ascent.
You may be happy enough going alone
but with others you’ll get further, and faster.
Someone who goes cheerfully by himself
to the customs house to pay his traveller’s tax
will go even more light heartedly
when friends are with him.
Even prophets sought out companions.
A wall standing alone is useless
but put three or four walls together
and they’ll support a roof a
nd keep the grain dry and safe.
When ink joins with a pen
then the blank paper can say something.
Rushes and reeds must be woven
to be useful as a mat.
If they weren’t interlaced,
the wind would blow them away.
Like that, God paired up creatures,
and gave them friendship.