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England is a troubled land So many ills beset it A fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work Seems we haven’t met it Yet immigrants still seek our shores Land of hope and glory And wealthy folk still rule the roost This the land of Tory   Lost an empire so we did Haven’tContinue reading “Where Is England?”

They gathered in the Dail In Leinster House Representatives of Ireland gathered there And a returned Yank addressed them Spoke of Ireland And of his love for pure Irish air   Great to see a nation come together Assembled in one place to hear a speech A willingness to share in echoed story Desire forContinue reading “Assembly”

A brief stay in Belfast Where politics has shut down The fearful DUP Refuse to settle down So speak to young ones this time And wish them happy days Then off to the republic And to the welcome gaze   Oh Ireland of the welcomes How dear you are today My heart is lifted toContinue reading “Sunshine In Dublin”

It’s always ‘Welcome home’ Because of the going away Because sometime long ago People couldn’t stay American Wake they called it Leaving Paddy’s land Never to see the old folk more Gone at life’s command   My father loved old Ireland The open road the breeze Elbow out the window Cigarette at ease Driving everContinue reading “Going Home”

When the Troubles flared up in Ireland in1969 the Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, turned to his advisor, T K Whitaker for good counsel. Whitaker was on holiday in Connemara and was summoned to a phone. He spoke reassuringly to Lynch and followed up that phone call with a letter warning against the danger of appearing toContinue reading “One Day”

I met him on the road in Glencullen- the greatest Irishman of the twentieth century. He was an old man then and standing outside the old schoolhouse where my mother went to school. That school had closed in 1970 and in 1972 it was bought, as a holiday home, by the man I met onContinue reading “A Great Man”

Emmaus Road Road of broken dreams Road of nightmares Crucifixion screams Our own hope had been… What will we do now? Go our separate ways Nothing’s what it seems   Was it not ordained? The path of suffering Isn’t this the common tale? From life’s entering All is pain and grief and woe Not muchContinue reading “Life Lessons”

Blinded by grief she could not see Much less could she understand An empty tomb and what it means No sense could she command Except he’s gone I don’t know where Some one robbed the place Blinded by tears she turns to one But does not know the face   And then she hears theContinue reading “Mary Magdalen”

Matthew 28:8-15   Why would they steal a body? Tell me that And say he was alive if he was dead What mileage would they get from that? What purpose would it serve? Ridiculous the thought of it Are you right in the head!   And all the joy they came into And all theContinue reading “Don’t Tell Tales”

Brought home from France A souvenir of war A crucifix found in rubble Where recently a church had stood A Christian home for Christian people there   The finder was a padre in the forces A forager and collector of things lost And home he came to England and to Rutland And in a tinyContinue reading “Among The Rubble”

At first light At the peep of dawn At the break of day Orto iam sole Just as the sun was rising The women go to the tomb Walking through quiet unflustered streets To anoint and lay to rest their broken Lord   But something is amiss The stone is moved The place has beenContinue reading “Early Morning Light”

You are not dead You died And when you died we cried for you And for ourselves Now left alone to grieve   You went where we can’t follow Cannot see or even think be true Believed yes and hoped But felt we did not know   Ten years since you’re gone Twelve since mammyContinue reading “Before The Cross”

Good Friday The day the good man died And when he died we thought Goodness isn’t worth it Goodness only goes so far And then gets crucified   And so we battle bravely We also curse and swear We get annoyed frustrated Time to tear our hair But what’s the point of anger? Who areContinue reading “Good Friday”

Two forces met in New York and shouted their support or their disapproval of Donald Trump. There is no more ridiculous sight to see than two grown people standing, toe to toe, bawling their version of truth into the face of the other. In our societies today we make what agreements we can and weContinue reading “The Political Game”

I find it very poignant that at the end of the war, on a May morning in northern Germany, two men, one from either side, met in a baker’s shop. The German man had slipped out of the woods nearby and with two companions was trying to make his way through the British lines andContinue reading “One May Morning”