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In the week that I met Billy Power, (see previous post) I also knocked on the door of another house in Leytonstone. Inside I discovered two retired gentlemen, Irish men and brothers. As they spoke to me I suddenly realised that I knew where they were from. I told them that I could trace theirContinue reading “Two Gentlemen of Glenamoy”

I was still a priest and I was giving a parish mission in Leytonstone, north London, around 1995. We would spend the first week knocking on doors, visiting people. One day I knocked on a door and a handsome man answered it. Immediately I sensed that I knew him but I could not place him.Continue reading “The Devil’s Work”

Chapel clothed in darkness Silence in the air Light around the altar Crucifix hanging there Benches await their kneelers Sisters all in prayer Adoration exposition The Lord is always there   I am with you always The promise of the Lord The moment that you turn to me Is the moment you are heard OnlyContinue reading “Holy Ground”

It’s very nice at night time To get into my bed Lamplight by my bed head Good book to be read Duvet all about me Bedroom curtains drawn House is settling down to sleep How quickly comes the dawn   Brian is very good with words Margaret said of me So I fill my dayContinue reading “Words”

No skyscrapers here, Uncle Hugh, I said I had come from London’s crowded streets High-rise buildings everywhere buses running by Tarmac pavements constant noise Airplanes in the sky Now here I stood in mammy’s glen In a quiet evening sky The still of hillsides all around The river running by Moor and bog An eveningContinue reading “City and Glen”

A summer morning 1956 My father sits white vested baggy trousers After breakfast cigarette Sunshine on his face Glencullen warmth Fresh air about the place   I a boy lean into his shoulder Mammy takes the picture of her men A donkey in the background Stretching for a bite Hind leg tied A calm contentedContinue reading “A Summer Morning”

The world needs justice, not revenge Answer for the things you say Pay for what you do Put things right Restorative Peace for me and you   Forgive someone even seven times? Peter is stretching it Trying to understand the Lord How much is enough of it?   Numbers do not matter Attitude is allContinue reading “Righting Wrongs”

Endless view Long horizon No one to talk to Nor set your eyes on   Feeling sad Needing to talk Asked to go home Sent for a walk   Met a crisis Relocate No discussion Vegetate   Then the big one Talking therapy All came out Self authority   Still long struggle Full of fearContinue reading “Facing The Issue”

We are condemned to use them We are addicted to them Often we abuse them People die   Country roads in Ireland Made for ass and cart Cover now in tarmac People fly   Regular as clockwork Fatalities abound Obituaries are written People sigh   Lovely girl in Erris Passenger in a car Funeral isContinue reading “Erris in Mourning”

I was in a fight one day with another boy on the grassy ground just outside our house. My mother came out and was about to stop me fighting. My father was there and he stopped my mother from intervening. ‘Don’t stop him, Eileen,’ he said, ‘or you might break his spirit.’ My mother toldContinue reading “Fighting”

Jesus did not provoke it It was already there Their silent non-acceptance In their cold hard stare   Jesus simply named it Prophets not welcome here Then they rose in anger Get him out of here   How come he’s so clever Just lives down the road Old man Joe the carpenter Who’s he tryingContinue reading “Heart Seeker”

The sound of looms in cotton mills Coal dust on miners’ faces Clanking wagons carrying coal Childhood’s industrial traces Trolley buses on the road Women’s coats in cotton The parade of industrial Lancashire Gone but not forgotten   All that harshness every day But still a kindly people Polished their doorsteps shiny red And lookedContinue reading “Then and Now”

Margaret found a job for me when I left priesthood. I was unemployed, just reading and writing at home. I had been a priest for almost thirty years. Switching professions or starting something new did not appeal to me or even seem possible. But I needed something to do, something to engage my mind andContinue reading “Words Are All I Have”

Feeling all alone when Margaret died Michael now with Holly And in Florida on holiday I felt all connections broken What to do Why not go back to Ireland Land of all my dreams Two sisters there A pleasant town I could settle so it seemed   Waiting for a train on Stirling station GotContinue reading “Finding Your Way”

What is the starting point? For understanding life The West begins from individualism And thinks the individual Is the supreme value and starting point This leads to all kinds of private benefits and Outrageous inequality   Communisn begins from the group, the collective And individuals must live and shape their lives within this larger realityContinue reading “Where Do I Start?”