Markings 55 - Poem of the Day
Does it Matter?
after Martin Luther who launched the Reformation on 31st October 1517
Does it matter
that Martin didn’t nail his Ninety-five Theses
on the church door at Wittenberg 500 years ago?
But actually went out
and bought a book of stamps
and posted them to all his friends?
Does it matter
that Martin didn’t say
‘Here I stand I can do no other!’
when demanded by the Pope to recant?
But actually asked the Holy Roman Emperor
‘Can I come back tomorrow?’
Does it matter
that Martin wasn’t a pure, flawless, devoted priest
but one whose three passions
were food
wine
and sex
and not necessarily in that order?
Does it matter
that Martin was an obscene anti-Semite
who gave Hitler
the imprimatur
for the extermination
of six million Jews?
Probably.
But like most of us
Martin was a mixture of good and bad;
sacred and profane. Who changed history
and whose most famous words were,
‘We are all beggars: this is true’.
Jeff Guess
©Jeff Guess 2017