Relief

The radio does not carbon date itsMen and women who share our space:Bob Weighton was interviewed first –111 at the time, Britain’s oldest manWith another year to go.But his voice belied his age -And he spoke, it seemed to me,With humour, wit and wisdom:A man who had used timeLike a flying ace weaving patternsIn infinite space.And yet – I knew he was one of nature’sAristocrats – whatever colour his bloodThe years would struggle to subdue him -But most of us are no match for time.

But then, a centenarian earl:Earl Cameron, a black actor.A young man in England who hadStruggled to get any sort of job –Blackness – louder than a leper’s bellJangling the nerves of a many a white.And yet – his words and the tone of hisVoice betrayed a man who had refusedTo surrender his self- esteem to a mob.

I could have been overwhelmedBut then he spoke to me:‘I have made far too many mistakes.’No bully, tyrant or politician wouldPronounce on his own life thus –If he had heard me speak he wouldNot know that I am white, or beAware he had helped me escape despair –And that lingering smell on the skin of fear.