Looking back had turned Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt,
But she returned as a magazine, as a new name for Chaos,
A reincarnation, a second Genesis,
(Her name was a cautionary tale,
But she ignores that part).
Now, she looks back again
Over sixty fiery years of life,
Surviving the wrath of God and man.
For the first ten years, her daughters stayed
In corners, letting her sons take centre stage.
Was it by their own choice,
Or does free will become muddied when
Society speaks lies like a serpent
Into innocent minds?
But in 1974, Sue Mathews became
Lot’s Wife first female editor, and
The image of God was made more complete.
Sue was appointed to editor by the
State Government, who held absolute power
Over whom would edit the Lot’s Wife,
Making themselves a part-time God,
Until 1983, when the student body finally wrested
Power from the state and shared
It between themselves like bread and fish.
I wonder whether people would have
Cared so much about Jesus multiplying food
If Uber Eats had existed back then.
Miracles are less magical in a digital world,
But poetry, prose, and art are still just as magical
And suddenly they could travel
Around the world like angels and dip in and
Out of time like an omnipresent God.
Years later, I read a poem from
Volume 10, No. 5, May 8, 1969,
‘Some people would live in their own
Ketchup if you’d let them’.
Luckily, we don’t always let people
Do what they want. Sometimes we do,
But sometimes we make them pay
University student organisation membership fees,
Until 2005, when Howard and Costello made
This voluntary too and the student unions
Worried that they would be swept away
In a wave of apathy for campus culture or
Maybe just financial necessity. Did Costello
Feel bad putting his daughter’s dignity
And life on the line? But Lot’s Wife stood her ground.
In 2007, her dignity was challenged again,
By an MSA muzzle, to stop a broad
Potentially defamatory mouth from biting
Certain people. They tied her to a leash
And dragged her along. Maybe if God had done that
To Lot’s wife she wouldn’t have turned
Into a pillar of salt, but God lets us
Make our own fateful choices.
I think God liked Lot’s Wife new logo of 2015,
He is no stranger to controversy
And he always loved Lot’s wife’s spirit, her
Strength, her confidence. Perhaps he
Lamented that she did not use it for good,
But that was the risk he took.
He reads Lot’s Wife now, I’m sure, and smiles
Seeing that she is just as bold as ever.
