Exmouth Foundation member Liz Johnson was surprised and delighted when she opened her May edition of the Catholic South West newspaper to find that she had won a write-in competition. Readers were asked in no more than 200 words to write about their faith using the symbols of a fish, a shell and the colour blue.
Liz was inspired to write a poem.
“I had no expectations of winning but I felt compelled to write the poem” said Liz to fellow members, “I thought I might as well send it in.”
This was her entry.
“Trapped within the limitations of my understanding of love and forgiveness I cower on the ocean floor.
Protected by the hard but porous shell of ignorance and insecurity, pinning me down with memories of the present and the past I exist without meaning or purpose.
Piscine bubbles rising to the surface are my only link to the things that I strive to feel and understand as my feathery gills filter the mass of experiences and sensations of my earthly life to try and interpret a purposeful meaning.
A single word – SAVIOUR – permeates the fissures in my shell and my primitive but overpoweringly grateful and receptive mind floods with sensations of belief and self-knowledge.
I am free at last, released from my bonds, to ascend through the dark blue of the ocean depths to the lighter expanse of blue sky and the glory of redemption and the joy and promise of eternal love embracing me now and forever.”