Category Archives: Uncategorized

A message written on a wall ‘Monica, I love you’ Survived the years of darkness Prison cell The writer tortured disappeared How we will never know But the words he wrote are living yet With love it is ever so   A massacre in Derbyshire Too awful to relate A mother and three children AContinue reading “A Child Is Born”

  It came through my letterbox this morning A card a letter An annual visitation My cousin’s girl Siobhan is writing to me I recognize black ink Familiar script   Four pages she has written At her table Just for me To share the life she lives She opens up her home her heart HerContinue reading “The Visit”

God is never far away In fact he is very near Step inside your own dear heart That place you sometimes fear   They told me when I went to school God is everywhere A catechism lesson The truth it was right there   God lives in that secret place When you want to prayContinue reading “Close Beside You”

I haven’t done Christmas cards this year I plead disinclination Maybe old age and solitary And maybe hibernation But I think of folk Remember them As Christmas day approaches And I send best wishes to you all To avoid possible reproaches   The feast spells out ‘belonging’ And that’s hard when on your own IContinue reading “You Belong To Me”

It’s icy underfoot A slippy shine Step out at your peril Wintertime   I need milk I’ll have to venture out Or stay here indoors And go without   Many go without All the time Bombardment in Ukraine Such a crime   Here in UK A government in tatters Death throes of disgrace Nothing mattersContinue reading “For Good Or Ill”

When I went to Ireland I travelled back in time Left industrial Lancashire Its coal dust and its grime Made my way across the sea Into another land And backwards into poverty They called it Paddy’s land   My father often sang that song His voice clear in my mind ‘In Paddy’s land But povertyContinue reading “Awake in the West”

Loch Earn Seen from St Fillans This frosty chilly morn Takes me back beyond fifty years When all the world was young Four men in a limousine Passed through Crieff’s small town And I stood on the pavement Looking down   The Beatles bound for Dundee east Crept slowly through the town A bottleneck ofContinue reading “Brief Encounter”

God must be found in this world Or he will not be found at all So look at the sky and wonder The moon and the stars say it all The earth’s magnificent mountains Its rivers and deepest blue seas The wonder of all this creation Can bring us all to our knees   AndContinue reading “Credo”

I was born in a manor house South Manchester long ago Used as a maternity home I came before the snow Then winter came in deep snow drifts My mammy took me home A garret room in Katie’s house St Paul’s Road Withington   That winter was a bleak one The year of ‘47 TheContinue reading “In Dark Days”

The whole thing is a nonsense The royal family Obsession with these people To the point of cruelty To have your life so scrutinised As a public domain Idolised and vilified A senseless hurtful game   A head of state can do the job And represent us all Like they do in Ireland Seems toContinue reading “Showtime”

There’s nothing moving The trains are standing still Folk on strike at loggerheads Ill will? And I’m not moving Imprisoned by the cold Minus eight this morning Stay within the fold   Children see a wonderland Snowy world and ice Venture out on frozen lake Cold the cruel vice Unaware of danger Crack and fallingContinue reading “Cold”

The good man came And opened up the world An iron curtain fell before his smile He would meet and he would greet The leaders of the world And share with them And go the extra mile   The outside world was thrilled To see the thaw The ice of Russia melt We’ve come soContinue reading “Remembering Mikhail Gorbachev”

It’s cold very cold And some folk have snow Ice and frost is everywhere And folk are feeling low Trains aren’t running Folk on strike NHS brought low And teachers too are striking How low can we go?   And war is raging in Ukraine Bombs and missiles there Putin isn’t talking What’s really inContinue reading “Light A Candle”

On my seventieth birthday I got a nice surprise You are going to be a granddad Joy sprang in my eyes Getting old and now alone A milestone just to pass Until this news came to me So come on fill my glass   I fell into depression When that child was one Joy itContinue reading “Being Alive”

One game was a joy to watch The other was a horror A game of skill the first one The second – why bother! Football is a game we say Playing for the prize But when you want a thing too much You fight and someone cries   The gathering of nations The sight aContinue reading “War Games”