It Makes You Think © 08 Barry Gardner

HE was a big noise in the City
The PILLAR of his community
Big house, big car, respect of peers
A fortune built up over years
He coveted his wide renown
Chaired every committee in the town
While it was rumoured everywhere
He’d be the City’s next Lord Mayor
Every single Sunday he’d be seen
In the little church across The Green
Sometimes even the vicar would sit
As the pillar ranted from the pulpit

HIS hair was long, his clothes were torn
At times he wished he’d ne'er been born
No friends, no home, no job, no wife
A wretched loser all his life

He’d tried to win but never could
Folks just said he was no good
Even his parents deigned to utter
He’d never rise up from the gutter
Yet even though they damned him such
They’d never helped him very much
he was ostracised where're he went
The BUTT of everyone’s contempt

One night a drunk lurched from a bar
Into the path of a passing car
The pillar jumped out all hot and flustered
Shouting “you fuckin stupid bastard!”
He fretted on his broken light
No care shown for the butt’s sad plight
As he stumbled off in the cold night air
Like a wounded fox seeking his lair
He’d taken plenty knocks before
And pretty soon there’d be some more
The physical pain he’d numb with booze
the mental scars harder to lose

Then one day he slept by a stream
His life was happy in his dream
‘Til he was wakened by a cry
A child in distress nearby
While standing at the water’s edge
She’d slipped off a deceptive ledge
So he threw himself into the water
And managed to save the pillar’s daughter
As she struggled up the muddy bank
She turned the brave young man to thank
But all that she could see was bubbles
Fate had stepped in to end his troubles

So though folks said he never could
With his dying deed he’d done some good
I perceive as I review these facts
Two very different “Christian acts”