Category Archives: Uncategorized

Any misbehaviour Makes our spirit sad Robs us of our happiness Going to the bad   It’s the way God made us Created for the good Not for silly selfishness But living as we should   Freedom not licentiousness Not anything will do But recognising righteousness The obligation to   Bonum faciendum est Malum evitandumContinue reading “Goodness Knows”

Ink black sky November moon Its brightness holds my gaze Along the road a neighbour’s window Annoys me – flashing lights Hungry for winter festival Gaudy giddy sight Stand out here in clinging cold Look into this sky A brilliant ball of brightness On ink black canvas Look – November’s moon   Back inside TheContinue reading “Sunday Evening”

Leaders are important They lay the markers down Like good parents with their children When to smile or frown They give us inspiration They walk the road before They stand for certain principles Or else are shown the door   Solskjaer comes to sunset Done the best he can Brought the feel good factor ButContinue reading “Home Truths”

You cannot destroy his empire It is not made of stones Though you put him on a cross To break his flesh and bones And had him buried put away A guard upon the tomb But Christ the Lord is born again Like coming from the womb   And I have royal access Unto thisContinue reading “I Was Born For This”

November nearly over The Church’s year concludes The feast of Christ the King Our troubled world still broods   The readings talk to us of truth A sore contested thing The Lord directs us to his voice It has the truest ring   The truth about your life and mine Did you find it yet?Continue reading “Listen To His Voice”

The train on Tyldesley station Annual pilgrimage Manchester Chester General Llanfair and Holyhead Dun Laoghaire Dublin Mullingar Athlone and stations west Manulla Junction Ballina Destination best Bus across the Erris bog Greet the sinking sun Vanguard to Glencullen Ye’re landed glad you’ve come   Train from Tyldesley station 1964 Off to Scotland my first timeContinue reading “Trains”

My earliest memory A cowboy called Tom Mix In comic books A 1950s child The garden and the fields of home Saw little boys With American accents Running running wild   Weekends at the matinee Cowboy films again Shoot-outs in deepest Lancashire American invasion Troops and now the films And always guns a-blazing Bringing deathContinue reading “Kenosha”

It must have been obvious to anyone That I was a burdened soul just plodding on The old priest never said a thing Just gave me a card that held some lettering   Poetry of John Donne was what I saw Telling me of God’s seasons how they fall How summer out of winter straightContinue reading “Poetry in Pendleton”

‘Whited sepulchres’ he called them Pointing to corruption in his day He never insulted anyone Simply told the truth Sometimes hard to swallow But that’s the way   No point in hurting people Just to hurt And give excuse for self-defence writ large Always respect the person Though they don’t respect you back Point butContinue reading “The Things We Say”

I read a book when young Obedient Men A haunting read The time of the Great War A young man joins the Jesuits Awhile And leaving later Talks about their style   I lived in obedience all my life To mother father school and church Yes church And church drilled in obedience Morning noon andContinue reading “The Will To Live”

Sisters in the silence Silent sacred space Tabernacle lectern Sedilia altar place Switch off all distraction Sit or kneeling there Come home unto your silent self Not emptiness but prayer   Let images ideas And simple thoughts come in Sit in his presence Say goodbye to din Here the Lord is waiting Every day forContinue reading “Before The Blessed Sacrament”

Christmas Day New Year’s Day Elvis’ birthday mine These are the great festivals Of this winter time In the depth of winter People looked for light The Christian Gospel took that cue And Christ is born on Christmas night   Old year ending gloomily Portents of the end Suddenly turns to expectation Advent time forfendsContinue reading “Adventus Domini”

Jesus wept to see Jerusalem Knowing well how he would be destroyed Knowing too the fate that lay in store In days to come of Roman force Employed   And when the worst was done And he had died And women at the tomb And Mary cried He comforted the woman in her grief AndContinue reading “Tears”

Rubble stones lie overgrown In a nearby local wood Once a lovely castle and a home Landed gentry owned the land Coal seams found below So they built a lovely castle A picture tells me so   A painting by a local lass Jane Anne Wright Who travelled round this area An invalid with fightContinue reading “Polmaise Wood”

The first snow has fallen in Wisconsin Lake water is shelving into ice Warmer clothes are rescued from the cupboard Defence against the coming winter’s vice   This news comes here to me in sunny Scotland Still basking in a warm November breeze Carried through the ether from my cousin Across the pond and America’sContinue reading “Winter in Wisconsin”