Poems

Prophet: Bishop Muge

Date added: 29/05/2020

PROPHET: BISHOP MUGE

 

On Saturday a Minister of State in Kenya

threatened a Minister of God in public,

if he or his colleague entered his kingdom:

'They would see fire

and may not leave alive.'

 

On Tuesday, the prophet,

impatient, impulsive,

pugnacious, courageous,

insisted on seeking the kingdom of God

and on his right to preach in Busia.

 

Triumphal entry and service over,

on returning, he returned Home.

The unmarked lorry, released from a police check,

headlights blazing - mid-afternoon -

cut in, cut up, cut off Bishop Muge.

 

The Minister of State resigned,

    but boasted of his prophecy;

the driver went to prison,

    seven years for dangerous driving;

the people talked of murder,

    the Party's over.

'Apres Moi le deluge.'

 

Bishop Alexander Muge, was the Anglican Bishop of Eldoret in Kenya, who died in Busia, on 14 August 1990.

© Graham Kings, Nourishing Connections (Canterbury Press, 2020).

first published in Theology 120.4 July/Aug 2017.