Category Archives: Uncategorized

An artic blast and storm Brings down power lines Leaving folk to face the winter cold No lighting no electric No heat to warm the house Living in one room And feeling old   We need the warmth of sunshine Warm clothes in winter days And power for central heating In our homes No turfContinue reading “Power Lines”

The eyes that see what you see To hear the things you hear A privilege a pinnacle and a prize The Lord himself the treasure found The summit of all sense The way the truth the life The great surprise   The detective looks for justice To right the wrongs now done The judge heContinue reading “The Healing Cross”

When people come into your life They change it I had had my share of people Couldn’t complain But losing Maggie Seemed to stop the flow End of the line Nowhere else to go   Now a few years on Grandsons have appeared And after baby years Begin to make their mark On me  Continue reading “Friendly Folk”

In the old days Mass was mystery Silence incense smells God come down from heaven And the ringing of the bells Congregation looking east Heads bowed low in prayer Adoring one white lifted host Then coughing filled the air Altar boys genuflecting Bowing left and right Carrying precarious missal stand Gave onlookers a fright MumblingContinue reading “Ite Missa Est”

We did not bring ourselves Into this world We do not know How or when we’ll leave But Covid concentrates the mind Brings out the best Shows people to be kind   A servant lying paralysed at home The master goes to find the Nazarene I know the way that power works I order andContinue reading “Heal Me, Lord”

  I don’t go to church anymore Except online I like to keep in touch Keep an eye on Francis Wander round ChurchTV Join in night prayer Like family Listen for a sermon now and then It’s the word I need to hear The word that drives out fear The word inspiring As I thoughtContinue reading “Testament”

I’m lucky me Got a cosy home Had my booster jabs Got a telephone Food upon the table Make my soda bread Son and family live nearby Stirling born and bred   Brother came to visit me Looking very well Enjoyed our days together Before the cold snow fell Family I come from From IrelandContinue reading “The Life That God Wants”

I was captain of the football team at college We didn’t play that many games Just occasional fixtures As a result we didn’t meet for tactics Or plan how we would play Just took the field Relying on our talent to sustain us We had good players We’d play we wouldn’t yield   One dayContinue reading “Positional Play”

  A man of God ahead of his times A wise and holy man Humble and human Some of the things they said A long list of condolences Now that he is dead   A facility with language A love of poetry Kind to all who met him Brilliant and unassuming Interesting homilies for sureContinue reading “Fr Patrick O’Brien RIP”

We don’t know What they’ve come from What they are fleeing Or why they think our land a paradise But they keep finding money and keep coming And some are lost in waters cold as ice   Poor countries far away is all we know We’ve heard the names read out on TV news SomaliaContinue reading “Famine Of Fellow Feeling”

When things are going badly It’s time to make a change Solksjaer departing sadly Rangnick in range   Old year darkening dimly Time to start anew Advent turns our hearts to him Whose coming will renew   Church gives out the warning Stay awake and pray Welcome each new dawning Greet the break of dayContinue reading “That Time Of Year”

My father’s faith Came out in the way he lived He left the verbalising to my mum His quietness was astounding Being proper was his creed He loved us and we knew it As we sat upon his knee   He worked hard digging coal He brought the money home Depended on mum for parentingContinue reading “My Word”

Long lost Roman Villa is revealed Beautiful mosaic found in a farmer’s field Depiction of a battle long ago Achilles and Hector ancient foe   Rural Rutland England is the place Roman life in Britain has a face Rising to the surface so long underground Nothing is ever lost it shall be found   ThreeContinue reading “Lost And Found”

Don’t be cooped up in a car Concentrating on every mile Sit yourself back in a train Look out the window Smile at the rain   Don’t be cooped up in a car Juggernauts juddering by Sit at ease with a book Browse a paper or look Out of the window again At moorland mountainContinue reading “The Rail Way”

  I drove one time to Barnfield Just to see the house To peer in through the windows One last time Aunty Mary had lived there Died in ‘91 Mickey her son beside her Ten years before he was gone   Summer days I spent there As if it was my home The breakfasts andContinue reading “Barnfield”