Category Archives: Uncategorized

Russian on his father’s side Ukrainian on his mother’s Mikhail Gorbachev Better than the others Decent man honest man Genuine reform Consequence outran him Still he stirred a storm   Ukraine land of sorrow Suffered famine time Brought about by communism’s Stupid stupid crime Then the Stalin purges Imprisonment and death Einzatsgruppen followed Death andContinue reading “Mikhail”

I’m not ill I’m not in hospital This is what I tell myself When self-pity comes to call And negative thoughts are long since barred Counselling saw to that I came to see the truth of things I can still walk out to bat   My world collapsed when Margaret died It took a whileContinue reading “Give Us This Day”

He tells good stories Jesus They last the test of time The rocky road to Jericho The good Samaritan The younger son all prodigal Lost and far from home The father always looking out Where has my boy gone?   And more than this his own short life A dramatic tale to tell From theContinue reading “Storytime”

The cutting edge is script No matter how fine the film The assembled words the dialogue The tension in between The camera catches everything Displayed upon the screen But only words can capture us Inspiring what is seen   Words attempt to reach the heart To entertain the mind To say precisely from the startContinue reading “Screenplay”

First day in the seminary Just eleven years old Four boys we went exploring A corridor dark and cold A priest was at the other end Welcome home he cried I knew he was being friendly But I knew in my heart he lied   That day I lost my family Lost my home myContinue reading “Gang Aft Agley”

I met him first in college I seminarian Reading the poems of Robert Burns Randy contrarian   No sight of lassies there for me All sights agrarian But the words he wrote brought life to me A lowly church librarian   He had a voice – that is his power Though some thought him barbarianContinue reading “Remembering Robert Burns”

Family is the nursery of life It’s there we live and learn Encounter love and strife Fight our battles wage our wars Earn our stripes get our scars Sometimes run away from Sometimes run back home   We must emerge from family Important to get outside Go into the wider world Bear our name withContinue reading “Start In Life”

Mark 3:22-30   They said he did the devil’s work Seeing his power to heal A power that they did not possess How did it make them feel? Jealous of the carpenter Experts in the faith Unable to accept him Too much for them to take   But calling goodness evil That goes beyond theContinue reading “Devilment”

How old are you, Michael The doctor asked my dad And then he said Those sweet words of release I think you’ve done enough, don’t you My father breathed a sigh He’d worked so hard all of his life Now he could have a lie   Down the mines at fourteen years Then the armyContinue reading “Rest Easy”

Putin is a problem Dictators always are Think of Mussolini Stalin Hitler Tsar Power they have taken Power they mean to keep Now they are unaccountable Enough to make folk weep   Killing off their enemies Imprisoning their foes Poisoning their critics This is how it goes If you cross the moral line You oughtContinue reading “Give An Account”

There’s a photo of me somewhere Sitting on Blackpool beach Sand in my toes Happiness out of reach Another photo shows me In Glencullen side Happy in my mother’s home Feeling Mayo pride   It took a year of saving To make that holiday A miner’s wage she put aside The shillings for the rideContinue reading “The Home Place”

  I just remember the name Eric Clapton Unplugged Just acoustic guitar No electric noise   And today I read a story About a holiday A mum takes her two children To a Cumbrian hideaway A totally unplugged holiday Nothing to distract From this world and its loveliness In the Lakelands outback   And howContinue reading “Off Grid”

They fought a battle hereabouts Eight hundred years ago Bannockburn they call it Robert the Bruce and Co   That battle isn’t over yet The Sassenach and Scot We are the noisy neighbours And battles aren’t forgot   Border raiders reavers Always stay alert Us and them always the same I hurt you – youContinue reading “Rubbing Shoulders”

Someone said a hurtful thing I was going to answer back Defend myself but I didn’t I cut myself some slack Hold on and think about it Why this curt remark Have I offended someone? I was in the dark   Maybe they’re just struggling Expecting to hear from me And when my side wasContinue reading “Say Nowt”

  If you’re going to make a statement An announcement to the world It’s only right and fitting That the folks at home be told They the first to hear the news Your own your kith and kin Your neighbours and your townsfolk Here you should begin   So Jesus came to Nazareth And onContinue reading “On Home Soil”