Boundary Marker

Wednesday evening and time for Vespers at St Mary's. However this was different. Along with the usual, wonderful calming tunes that permeate the environment, and the sound of the bells and the ringers practice their changes, this Wednesday had a visual component, the work of two local artists. Christine had an installation that explored the link between clothing and boundaries. It was the words "boundaries, real or imagined" that caught my imagination. I thought about the many boundaries that exist. Particularly our imagined boundaries. Or maybe not imagined, maybe they really do exist, in our own minds. 

Boundary Marker

Where is your boundary marker?

What is your boundary marker? 

A row of pebbles, or a painted line in the street? 

A fence topped with barbed wire, 

A brick wall with broken glass, set in concrete?

Is there an entry or an exit, or is it entirely enclosed?

Is it it a sanctuary, a place of safety and solace,

Or are you serving a sentence, self-imposed- 

Of solitary confinement - shutting society out?

Do you stay within your gate, 

Or do you sometimes venture out,

To encounter and discover

What lies around about?

Are you, perhaps, in permanent exile - 

detached and disconnected - from yourself?

Locked out and excluded - 

Like a leper - unwanted - on the shelf?

We all need our own space,

That special place

To be free - To be "me". 

We also need connection

To touch, to talk, and be listened to

To love and to be loved too!