Category Archives: Uncategorized

I have always loved the sound of silence In old age even more My house is drenched in quietness Stillness at my door I inhabit this rare frequency The voice of God is there It whispers in a gentle breeze Take care it says Take care   And then my grandsons come to call ToContinue reading “Voices”

She’s paid her dues has Hilary The struggle and the pain She’s found her way has Hilary Finally there’s gain She doesn’t try to impress you She simply wants to talk To tell you things she thought about Shall we go for a walk?   When she speaks you listen Because it’s not just wordsContinue reading “Quiet Afternoons”

Her uncle did two years in jail For something he didn’t do He confessed to stealing coal As poverty makes you do His brother was the culprit But he was invalid Back from the war And lost a leg A shattered man A human wreck He’d never last a day inside And so a familyContinue reading “Stealing Coal”

  A child brought up by nuns! God help her!   My catholic school was brilliant All lay teachers there A warm and happy place I lived without a care   But I know what she is getting at When celibacy runs cold And black-robed priests and nuns Like making sure you’re told   ThoseContinue reading “Hilary The Child”

Everybody hurts Says the song It’s true enough Be life short or long Mantel lost her father Then she lost her health Cannot now have children That joy that bliss that wealth   The time of Reformation Everybody hurts Hunting down the heretics Burning innocents Ever since the argument Who is right or wrong? CatholicContinue reading “Be Brave”

  Her like again We will not see they say I get a sense of that Watching her way Of talking slowly Thinking all the while A careful cautious lady And of style   I haven’t read her yet I swerved away Twice studied Tudors Enough for me I’d say And Henry 8 I haven’tContinue reading “Hilary Mantel”

There’s a lad in County Sligo Been living on his own On his own land Self-sufficient He really grows his own I like to watch his videos ‘Mossy Bottom’ is the name I’ve learned so much by watching him I think you’d do the same   Today a powerful lesson He has given up toContinue reading “Nature Teaches Us”

  God help the Russian soldier Asked to fight a war In a foreign land For a reason he does not understand Against another soldier Fighting for his home Who’ll shed his blood its understood For something in him grown   And one time diehard protestants In Ulster’s fair land Promoted British Union And thereContinue reading “Coexistence”

As I age I come to realise How firm foundations Have upheld my life My mother’s love My father’s care My siblings Even my dog’s kind stare Are all supporting me Even now   I live alone But happy here I read I write Enjoy a beer I am blessed in my son And grandsonsContinue reading “Inherited Wealth”

  I sit and talk with old ladies While waiting for a bus It constitutes my daily chat While cars go thundering by us   The omnibus – for everyone A common way of life The motor car a death machine Constant daily strife   I remember trams in Dusseldorf I thought them very heavenContinue reading “Dangerous Moves”

Noah will you pull me to the car I can’t walk I can’t walk that far This my clever plan To get Noah to take my hand It worked a treat Noah you’re a star!   ‘Hold my hand’ I knew Would meet a stare A boring occupation Anywhere But give the boy a challengeContinue reading “Noah’s Ark”

Back to Balmoral Charles in sorrow grief A week of isolation Welcome rest Hallowed halls without her here Life seems strange She was always near Now a brave new world Make the best   How to be a modern king Now it’s here Changes bring Best to be yourself No better thing The world IContinue reading “Misty Morning”

Luke 8:19-21   They come looking for him Wanting to keep him safe Crowds of people following him What will happen next?   Quiet days are over Out of their control Jesus launched into the deep No use their patrol   They’ll come again and stand by him Love’s unending task At a cross onContinue reading “A Mother’s Love”

Born in poverty in the midst of the famine Evicted from his home when four years old Lost an arm working in a factory aged only ten Turned his mind to reading and learning Joined the IRB A burning cause inside him To set Ireland free   Who wouldn’t feel the cause of liberty? WhenContinue reading “Do Not Take Sides”

Do not take a side he said He now growing old Not like when he was young Wanting to be bold   Evicted from his home a child Left his native land Lost an arm in a factory Words now his command   Planned to fight for freedom Imprisoned for his pains Seven long yearsContinue reading “Michael Davitt (1846-1906)”