Stumpy-Footed Pigeon

By Lucy Wall

It never ceases to amaze me how inspiration can appear from anywhere and at any time. My inspiration for ”Stumpy-Footed Pigeon” was, as you may have already guessed, a stumpy-footed pigeon!

For anyone who has ever visited or lived in London you’ll know how many scruffy, scraggly looking pigeons there are around! It was while I was waiting for a train one very cold day on the platform of Hammersmith Tube Station that one of these poor little feathered creatures got my mind ticking. The pigeon, looking rather worse for wear, hobbled past me on two stubby little legs with barely a toe in sight. My heart immediately went out to the sorry looking bird and I found myself thinking, “Poor stumpy-footed pigeon. ”

I went on to think about how hard life is for a pigeon living in busy London town and how the effects of their difficult little lives can often be seen in their dirty, misshapen appearance. I concluded however that as long as the pigeon had his wings he was equipped with what he needed to survive and this brought a small smile to my face regarding the pigeon ’s welfare! I certainly took great joy in watching him fly away.

Case Dismissed

There are three main areas of inspiration for my poem "Case Dismissed. "  The first is a particular verse from the Bible which is 1 John 2:1 which reads,

"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. "

The first time I read this verse the message really jumped out and hit me! The power of the words made such an impact on me that I stopped everything I was doing and thought about what I 'd just read.

What this particular Scripture did was it really personalised my Saviour to me. It told me that not only does Jesus know my name and exactly who I am but He also takes the time to defend me in spite of all my flaws! This just amazed me! It filled me with a new level of adoration for Him and helped me understand a little more about how great His love is for me.

When I heard my Pastor give a teaching on this particular Scripture it really brought back all the initial feelings I 'd had when I first read the passage. What it also did though was it gave me a much deeper knowledge and understanding of exactly what goes on in the realms of Heaven between Jesus and Satan. This equipped me to put my thoughts and feelings down on paper and these two areas of inspiration have very much influenced the second half of my poem.