‘Edenbray in Exile’

A Retrospective Anthology of Poetry, Articles and Essays

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THE FLAG

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We fold the flag away

Either by length or width

Never by height or colour

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We listen to the neighbours woe

Cover our eyes gladly with the corn

That grows through our window

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Swaying in the breeze gently

Golden corn we hold in our hands

The summer fun has begun

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So sadly the flag now folded

Of causes, conflicts and clatter

Things now that no longer matter

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writtenbyedenbray02.02.2015

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illustration: by edenbray ~ ‘the man with the wooden gun’

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#Authors Note :  Just 20 more Poems, Articles & Essays will complete Edenbray’s 2nd Retrospective Anthology – Those written Post – 2013 will sit alongside an Earlier Compilation Posted – late  2019 – early 2020.

This piece and/or the notes around it do not represent any strong personal political or anti-democratic view – they represent a purely, artistic and hypothetical submission – more along the lines of a – what if? An Imagine-2 – if you like? I only add this as an extra rider not out of fear or misunderstanding but to support the artistic freedom and idealism edenbrays whole portfolio represents. ~ ”The personal life is not dead’ 

‘The Flag’ was inspired by an Oil Painting by the Author  –  which was completed in early 1986. The painting itself although not my greatest work I feel does has a certain naivete and contains a powerful hypotheses. The painting depicts a “Universal Soldier” standing in a muddy field of battle and in front of a Universal Flag ,with no recognisable link to any nationality, creed or religion – The soldier is carrying a fake, replica, wooden rifle, basically a piece of shaped industrial timber – The theme of the Painting is loosely based on the lyric from John Lennon’s early 1970’s song –‘Imagine’ which dramatically challenged the Author at the age of 20 years and helped greatly in his spiritual development at that time.

The ‘wooden gun’ idea concept was introduced from a separate source – a shared dream – that a troubled, young, pentecostal bible-student called Michael told me about over a curry way back in 1972. The imagery related to an interpretation of a dream Michael had that concerned the devil himself and which suggested that Satan worries us and threatens us but actually has no effective weapon to destroy us as his weapon is a bluff, a harmless wooden gun!

I decided to ‘smash’ these two concepts into the one painting and while the Poem includes no obvious non-nationalistic or non-religious imagery it is written in the same style as the painting excepting that it is a lot more ‘unplugged’ and minimalistic.

As with a lot of these chosen Retrospective selections – this piece, written 5 years ago, seems to gel uncannily with the mood of life we have today in 2020, while under Covid-19  Lockdown restrictions.  ~.  edenbraytoday