Author Archives: tyldesleyboy

Priests did not inhabit a world of crime They lived in a world of sin And sins are to be confessed And then absolved And the sinful priest can carry on It’s fine   And sins are secret Never see the light In dark confessional We confess and put it right And counsel firm amendmentContinue reading “Dark Secrets”

We do not force ourselves on anyone We try to be good news for everyone We let the Lord inhabit us each day We gently rise and gently we will pray   Be a witness is the command he gave Let your life invite and others save Be yourself it is your finest role ForgetContinue reading “The Way of Christ”

Today is the day that I was born Many years ago The world recovering from war Winter of the snow The evil and the madness Berlin bunker bombed Cold war just beginning Europe still entombed   All those years have passed us by Russia still not free Communism’s wickedness Capitalism’s glee We must deal withContinue reading “Birthday Boy”

‘I’ve made that sandcastle. What do I do now?’ I was three years old and sitting on Blackpool beach. Sand got between my toes and I did not like it. Sitting on a beach did not thrill me either. It was summer holiday time and for once, instead of going to Ireland to visit herContinue reading “Castles in the Air”

A stroppy youth met Gandhi on the street and told him to get off the pavement in apartheid South Africa. Gandhi’s reply to the youth was, ‘I think you’ll find that there is enough room for all of us in this world.’ These words re-echo with me today when I think of the strikes andContinue reading “Room For All”

It was our boast the NHS Post war equality After all the men that died Fighting Hitler see And we nationalised the coalmines So my dad could get a wage And we got an education act So folk could read a page   The mines are gone they had to go But not the wayContinue reading “Schools, Employment, Hospitals”

Britain was an object of desire The fair and pleasant land Invasion from the continent Romans held command Then the Anglo-Saxons Viking settlement Alfred and the burning cakes And then the Normans sent   People are still invading Could be a compliment People seeking paradise On the coast of Kent Away from troubled countries AwayContinue reading “Britain”

Tories don’t like Unions That’s a bottom line They are evil barons Their existence is a crime   Tories are the well to do English to the core All for getting on in life Society is a bore   PMQs now that’s a farce Shout the other down Is this how the country’s run? ClownContinue reading “All Change”

When I was a student for priesthood, living in seminary in the 1960s, the rector at the time used to preach a favourite line to us – keep the rule and the rule will keep you. I always felt instinctively that this was a killer of the spirit. Whatever good it was trying to say,Continue reading “Agent of Change”

Sedated bound Hand and foot And carried to the gallows Noosed and dropped Disposed of Edith Thompsons’s sorrows   A snooty judge A gentleman Voices nausea and contempt At love letters from the woman To her lover sent   The jury finds her guilty Though evidence there is none Edith the flighty woman Is banishedContinue reading “Edith Thompson”

Our little lives are ordinary she said Our little lives are ordinary and sad I find in that a cause for true rejoicing It keeps us level saves us from the bad   Sun and rain fall on all alike No favourites with the Lord I think you’ll find Though many seem to prosper andContinue reading “Life in Ordinary”

I was baptised by a Father Hope On Candlemass Day I’m told The year was Nineteen forty-seven The winter very cold Two weeks old I was that day A helpless babe just then But the arms that held me loved me so No better start ye ken   So baptism means nowt to me NoContinue reading “Baptised”

What is the light that dawns in Galilee? A gentle person yes – that we know A preacher and a healer Welcome to the show But what is it specifically That marks this person out And shows me how to live my life And there’s no need to shout   It is respect and dignityContinue reading “Galilee of the Nations!”

‘Well, aren’t you the mechanical priest!’ my young cousin said to me. Her name was Anne and she was about eleven years of age. We were out on a beach in Erris shortly after I had been ordained. ‘Mechanical’ was a word she used meaning ‘clever’, and just to make sure that I did notContinue reading “Mother Tongue”

Bright light cities and television Dominate our eyes Cosy in our homesteads We hardly see the skies But wise men from the ancient East Following a star Came to seek a new-born child Came from lands afar   So many things we do not know And many things we do Everest and Antarctica And journeysContinue reading “Kings of Orient”