Author Archives: tyldesleyboy

Matthew 13:18-23 The worries of the worldThe lure of richesAre these the things that occupy the mind?The seed that falls among thornsI recognise itCovers most of usThe cruel and the kind What do we do?When we have lost the point of livingWhen the purposes of life have gone astrayWe feed on bread and circusesFor comfortSoContinue reading “The Worries of the World”

If there’s no God aboveWhen I get thereI won’t ask for my money backYou seeBeing good and truthful is the ticketYou won’t hearAny complaining now from me Being trueTo all that’s in our natureDiscovering the best that you can beAnd living lifeIn simple recognitionThat human kindnessTrumps all cruelty But there’s more to lifeThan meets theContinue reading “Heaven Above”

Why do you tell stories?They ask himWhy not speak in plain and simple facts?Sower and seedWheat and weedsBoy leaves home same boy then comes back Why not say it boldAs it isWhy not tell them straightYorkshire styleWhy go round the housesWith a storyWhat’s the point of that?Did Jesus smile? John McGahernHelped me with an answerHeContinue reading “May I Suggest”

Time to sell a bicycleFacebook MarketplaceGet a few bob I reasonedAnd we’ll clear a space Lady from Honduras comesRecent refugeeChild of five a birthday soonHere you have it free Come to that I’ll drive you homeHere hop in the carPut the bike into the bootThe drive not very far At her home I see aContinue reading “Who Will Buy?”

Matthew 13:1-9 Lakeside auditoriumTell a story nowAbout a sower who goes out sowing seedLook at all these peopleListening to me nowHow many do you think will really heed? What kind of soil am I?Will a seed take root in me?Am I good for anything other than myself?Am I really fertile ground?Do others find me sound?OrContinue reading “O That Today”

Immigrants in rubber dinghiesSeek our shoresBranson in his planeSeeks outer spaceThe billionaire has technologyTo help him reach his goalThe immigrants don’t knowWhat they will face The UK they’ve been toldA land of promiseA place to settle down and make a lifeThe natives on the other handAre restlessThe green and pleasant landNow full of strife OurContinue reading “A Rush Of Wind”

My father’s final yearsA bungalowQuiet corner of a quiet streetThree years of peace and quietMammy by his sideThose declining yearsWhere old ghosts meet Land of his childhood days againLife full circleAfter years of toilSchool and pit and army daysSix full years of warMeeting mammyThat takes care of all Pit and broken healthAnd then odd jobsSafeContinue reading “Sound Affair”

Matthew 12: 46-50 Family is fineSometimes a blessingFor others a misery and a curseWhen it’s good it’s wonderfulWorth all the wealth of earthWhen it’s bad it’s terribleNowt worse Something more than familyIs neededLife goes on well beyond the doorFriends and acquaintancesAppearingWork colleaguesFellow travellers galore A simple graceCan be our great connectionMake brothers, sisters, mothers,Of usContinue reading “Goodness Me”

Somewhere South Of Naples I stepped down from the trainNight had fallenSomewhere south of NaplesThat I knewI looked along the platformNot a sausageWhere is my friend?I’m counting now on you He had phoned meAnd told me come to NaplesHe’s the kind of guyTo whom you don’t say ‘no’Pasquale di PriscoOnce a brotherA brilliant chefNow aContinue reading “Somewhere South Of Naples”

We ferried down the ClydePast Ailsa CraigOur trip to IrelandSailing very calmThen we hit the weatherOr the weather then hit usNorth Channel wind and wetWe felt alarm Everyone satBartender tended glassesGlasses sliding up and down the trayShuddering soundsAs ship contends with oceanProgress slowThere is no other way We headed southThen turned into the windFaced intoContinue reading “North Channel”

Matthew 12:38-42 I saw itEvery time I went insideThat flickering flame – I am present hereQuiet church silent sanctuaryA flame of light I am always near Sign enough for meI believedJesus in the flesh and in the flameReal presence of the LordTabernacle-d hereAnd in my heart I’m toldThe very same Asking for a signIs hedgingContinue reading “A Flickering Flame”

Today is an anniversaryExact in every waySunday 18 JulyFeast of the Holy RedeemerAnd the day I came away Came away from SunderlandLeft the Reds behindLeft the role of priestAnd confrere too Left a life of thirty yearsForty including schoolAll I’d ever knownYet I left it cool All the struggles overI calmly stepped outsideJoined the worldContinue reading “Anniversary”

The stately homes of EnglandMagnificent and madMonied folk and opulenceBeautiful and badWhile many live in hovelsAnd scarcely daylight seeThe gentle folk of EnglandWere on a spending spree They ruled the roostThey had the doughThey spent it as they pleasedMonstrosities of eleganceParkland at their easeMoney made from coalminesFrom plantations overseasMoney made from slaveryOthers on their kneesContinue reading “A Quiet Place”

We walked into the houseAs if it was our ownYou’ve only been awayAnd now you have come home We had travelled over land and seaBy bus and train and boatTwenty-four hours of journeyingHere take off your coat Down in that glen a paradiseA world of cousins thereA river and the fields aroundA time without aContinue reading “Ancestral Home”

Jesus was a gentlemanWhat does that make you think?That he was upper class?I don’t think soJesus was a gentle manThat’s a better startHe was by nature kindHe had a kindly heart We tend to think in binarySomeone is soft or strongForce is firm and soft is weakWe couldn’t be more wrongThe blending of the twoContinue reading “Gentle Man”