.
Dear child of God
With the tears on your face
And your hands clasped in anger
What is the matter with your race?
In the beginning, Father,
You made the terms of our survival
That we should use our intelligence
To kill every rival.
The poison of this ferocity
Runs in our nature,
And O Lord thou knowest
How it nourishes thy creatures.
How it nourishes thy creatures.
Oh what a lively poison it was
To bring to full growth.
Is then becoming loving
As much as our life is worth?
It is a price I would pay
To grow loving and kind,
The price of my life
And the life of human kind.
Father in heaven
Dear Father of peacefulness
It is not often we remember
You put this poison in us,
Generally we stand
With the tears on our face
And our hands clasped in anger,
Faithful but unfortunate.
Florence Margaret "Stevie" Smith (1902-1971): Dear Child of God from Not Waving but Drowning, 1966
Untitled: photo by Malcolm Markovich, 1975
Untitled: photo by Malcolm Markovich, 1975
Untitled: photo by Malcolm Markovich, 1975
Untitled ("Geordie bairns encounter London freaks taking a break on the tour bus"): photo by Malcolm Markovich, 1975
Untitled: photo by Malcolm Markovich, 1975
Untitled ("Is there a story behind this set? did you know these kids?""Didn't know them, no. Gryphon, the band I was playing with at the time, were touring the UK supporting YES. To the best of my recollection we were in or on the way to/from Newcastle and decided to pull over -- can't recall why. This bunch of kids, just out from school, saw a bunch of freaks in a bus, a camera, and did what kids do."): photo by Malcolm Markovich, 1975
Somewhere in the north of England: photo by Malcolm Markovich, c. 1975