Category Archives: Uncategorized

Pearse a son of holy Ireland Took up the gun And caused red blood to run And shooting him And the others too Made Ireland turn Against Britannia’s rule   But Ulster was so British They turned too Against an Ireland That they never knew They’d never give assent To Irish rule And Ireland gotContinue reading “Orange And Green”

My morning walk A scenic wonderland Wide open spaces Greenery at hand A distant row of hills The Ochils Stretching into Fife The Wallace Monument William’s knife! Stirling Castle perched upon a hill Extinct volcanic rock overspill A railway line runs by Mainline to Edinburgh Beyond and out of sight The River Forth Flowing gentlyContinue reading “Morning Walk”

When Mass is done And procession leaves the church The choir sings In Paradisum That journey from this world to the next Accompanied by song and silent wish   I chose it for a verse upon the tomb Upon the grave stone Where my Maggie lies In paradisum deducant te Angeli May the Angels lead youContinue reading “September Song”

Scotland is Scotland Whatever comes to pass I saw it first in railway stations Blue not mauve the signs And look said Chris his English joke Native settlements! I looked and saw great haystacks Is that now what he meant?   I’d like to see a severance An independent state Part of the end ofContinue reading “Home Nations”

  It seems we do not want To settle down again This death has stirred us up We don’t want the same refrain Elizabeth departing Calls us start anew Calls for justice equity Summon me and you   Little old lady at the gate Her only son now dead A mournful procession Heavy funereal treadContinue reading “A Village Called Nain”

Mammy needed a passport To go to Germany To go visit her daughter in Dusseldorf But the office would not give her one The reason very clear Mammy was an Irish girl She didn’t belong here   Mammy wasn’t having it She made her case with vim Just a short-term document So they’d let herContinue reading “Who Goes There?”

Deep in Italian mountains I came upon the scene A coffin carried on a bier A medieval dream A priest Redemptorist at the head Family close by A quiet country funeral Impressive on the eye   Up the Royal mile today Came the solemn band A funeral procession Silence in the land Reverence for theContinue reading “Walk On”

Saw it on You Tube video Dublin harbour wall The darkness of the black night sea A ship tied to its stall And facing out a blackness England lies beyond I’m heading into darkness What now will I find?   Or was it gay adventure My mum and Kathleen Ryan McHale as was her cousinContinue reading “Dublin Harbour Wall”

She had her things about her Until the day she died Balmoral beloved home Beautiful Deeside Many are not so lucky Hospital and Home Have taken them from all they love And the end is coming soon   We have to say goodbye to things Things we hold so dear We have to leave themContinue reading “Leaving”

There’s what we say and what we do Both are our concern Both require attending to Important what we’ll learn   The Lord he was a preacher He dealt in the spoken word But he also healed the helpless And so his voice was heard   The things we say the things we do AndContinue reading “Today”

It’s the person that we mourn The human being She’s been part of the furniture Always always seen The Nation’s granny Lilibet Reverence for age But when it’s over brace yourself Time to turn the page   We are quite a troubled nation Run by gents and toffs And a scallywag prime minister Whose latelyContinue reading “Something In The Wind”

We cannot control our children’s lives We have to let them be Let them go into the world Watch them carefully   Love has done its basic deed Planted in the heart You are loved – that is your creed Now you play your part   Life will make a mess for us Foolishness mightContinue reading “Becoming A Parent”

Embodiment of the nation And our story Ending now in days of fitting glory A hearse upon the highway Leaves Balmoral We follow every mile Attentive choral   Final journey To final resting place But many calls to make All for our sake Aberdeen and Edinburgh Sun on Scotland shines Then the flight to LondonContinue reading “En Route”

24th Sunday C   Saul of Tarsus religious thug His religion ruled him like a drug The honour of his God was all his care He didn’t mind who he hurt Orthodoxy he would assert Looking out for traitors – who goes there?   A blinding light then cast him down Which way now into theContinue reading “Homily In Verse”

My mother lay in state after she died Her room made as a chapel And I cried To see her still and lying there Her spirit gone The quiet air Her story told she takes her rest And leaves us to our care   And so Balmoral holds the queen A few more days tillContinue reading “Live The Day”