Category Archives: Uncategorized

It’s easy to support Ukraine To cheerlead from the side Take a plane and go there Boris in his pride But people suffer on the ground War is cruel and cold Don’t be sending armaments Let dialogue take hold   The big boys are at play here Russia and US This the case for allContinue reading “A Demanding Task”

I am lucky in my neighbours Those who live nearby Kind and friendly people Look you in the eye Help you any way they can Pass the time of day Do not crowd you give you space Stop and say good day   I too must prove a neighbour To anyone I meet Not justContinue reading “Jericho Road”

Tennis like boxing Is blow versus blow Every punch and strike Seeks to lay you low Intense confrontation Emotional to and fro Skilful yes I grant you But not one I want to know   Give me football any day And yes athletics to Running and jumping and scoring goals Involving many too That singularContinue reading “Be A Sport”

It’s time I were ‘dee-ing’ My mother said one time Old age and weariness She felt then in decline She lived for 94 good years The last two in her bed Good and patient to the end To yield herself to God   My father too those years before Lay silent in his bed LostContinue reading “Life Journey”

1858 Massabielle The old rocks of Lourdes Cast their spell Bernadette Soubirous Poor sickly child Sees the mother of the Lord Who will she tell?   Eventually she told the world The world came to the place They are coming still today From every tribe and race They touch the rock face with their handsContinue reading “La Grotte de Massabielle1858”

France 1944. An officer told my father to drive down a particular road in a jeep to reconnoitre the terrain. My father, an experienced soldier by this time, saw a problem. That road is a perfect ambush spot, he told the officer. Better to send an armoured vehicle down there first. The officer agreed andContinue reading “Wise as a Serpent”

Shake the dust That’s all you need to do If they will not welcome you If they will not listen Shake the dust and leave it with them Disassociate Do not insult or call them names Leave them to their fate   Far easier to call folk names We are tempted to deride Tempted toContinue reading “Shake The Dust”

He is not long ago He is here and now In simple signs and wonders He stays with us by vow Those early morning masses While Tyldesley dug for coal And women worked in cotton mills I found him in my soul   He delights to be among us He gave us bread and wineContinue reading “Do This”

The person of Jesus and the gospel of Jesus Is the truth we need to know That came home to me long ago Whatever else came along Seminary years Frustration tears The Gospel is still the song   Every day at daily Mass The word of God is spoken It has something vital to sayContinue reading “Free and Faithful”

The death has occurred the writing says I see again today My mother’s funeral notice So simple then to say Late of Glencullen Lower Now of Westport town Now the family gather To lay her body down   94 years of life she lived A loving mother too Fiery sometimes as my father said SheContinue reading “All The Years To Come”

I awoke today Reached for the phone and read That she had died A pretty face a redhead A writer too I sighed So young at 51 To lose the gift of life Loss of sight was also there But her spirit it burned bright   She leaves behind a husband Two children very youngContinue reading “In Memoriam: Susie Steiner”

Doing Wordle today I had the I and A Three spaces left and one was L What it was I could not tell Does the L go here or there? I needed an answer to my prayer In fact the truth turned out to be L was needed there and here And then the wordContinue reading “Finding the Question”

At school I learned to make my mark I learned to write my name Our name is special intimate Nothing sounds quite the same To hear it spoken tenderly To see it written down Here I am and here’s my place And this is my home town   A day will come eventually They willContinue reading “Your Name”

They say that power corrupts Indeed it does We use our force on others To get our way The Plantation of Ulster The Highland Clearances Left Ireland fraught Scotland empty For landowners and sheep And no right of way   So Scottish independence I’d like to see And let England be England A new identityContinue reading “Who Rules The World?”

Russia has been the enemy since I was a boy Since 1945 the end of war The cold heart of communism Stalin to the fore And Kruschev and Kennedy The Cuban missiles scare   Iron Curtain Berlin Wall Then 1989 Then Russia became a free-for-all Then came Putin’s time   China too all power controlContinue reading “Calvary”