The battle of Reading Rock - Part 09

Royston 1946 (Reading)



Then I saw him, he was coming,
and I wondered about his intent
watched him stagger, saw him swagger,
‘til he stood there at the tent.
“Just who are you, that you can do,
these things to me?” he cried
“A servant of God, of Jesus the Lord,”
I looked at him and replied.

Then into the tent, both of us went,
and as he sat upon a chair
he then shared with me, so passionately,
about himself as he sat there.
In his distress, he began to express,
the gospel in words obscene
and then I knew, as he did too,
that to the Cross of Jesus he had been.

I'll be back” he said, lifting up his head,
and I watched him walk away
As I was praying, I heard him saying,
He'd return to the Lord one day.
Then a vision appeared, as the mist cleared,
and it formed before my eyes
and a battle scene, where I had been,
unfolded to my surprise.

About this poem

I saw him coming from a distance and knew he was heading my way. Watched him swaggering and staggering, negotiating the rubbish and all the abandoned tents. “Who are you?” He asked. “A servant of Jesus,” I replied. We went into the tent and he started to tell me about Jesus, how He had suffered upon the cross. How He had died and bore the penalty for our sins in His body. The man’s vocabulary was coarse and vulgar, but his words were graphic and sincere. He had tears in his eyes. Then he got up and left. I didn’t even have time to pray. I too was moved to tears as he left me on my own in the tent with Jesus. “I’ll be back,” he said and I watched him walk away thinking, “Back where—To me?” Then I realised that he meant “Back to the Jesus—Back to Calvary.” So I prayed and committed him into God’s hands. “What a battle it’s been, Lord,” I said. 

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Submitted by royston on June 08, 2021

Modified on March 05, 2023

51 sec read
2

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABXBCDXD BEXEXXCF XGAGXHFH
Closest metre Iambic tetrameter
Characters 831
Words 169
Stanzas 3
Stanza Lengths 8, 8, 8

Royston

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    "The battle of Reading Rock - Part 09" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/102122/the-battle-of-reading-rock---part-09>.

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