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Blue bins are brought inside before a storm Myrtle Beach knows all about alarm But one blue bin escaped the great collection And wind and wave have caused a great defection   The blue bin bobbed along the eastern coast Enjoying life at sea it made the most Then seated snugly on the Gulf StreamContinue reading “Myrtle and Mulranny”

God is in this quiet silent space This semi darkness early morning light Where flickering flame in sanctuary Beckons to my face Come close come quiet Where your feet alight   This holy house In morning darkness warm Embraces me with holy incense charm And tabernacled Lord All presence here Invites to reverence Have noContinue reading “The Kingdom Of God Is Among You”

Ten lepers cried to Jesus And were healed One came back in utter thankfulness All were plagued and all were healed But only one came back His healing all the fuller For the fact   We all are plagued in some way In this life No one goes scot free on life’s rough road WeContinue reading “What Is Life ?”

I stood beside my mother At daddy’s grave Do you think there is an afterlife? She said I felt sudden surprise at such a question Aren’t you the one that taught me About the dead!   And then I thought fair play To doubt is fine Even my mammy is allowed to doubt Sometime SheContinue reading “A Shared Life”

I met him in a high rise One sunny afternoon Young priest I was out visiting the folk Same age we were mid twenties He just passing through Going home, home to Roanoke   I’d been cooped up in seminary Six years imprisonment Now let out to walk the roads of life And he’d beenContinue reading “Chance Encounter”

  I am back now drinking coffee In the morning From eleven years old and seminary days The smell of coffee brewing In the morning Inspired me helped when I prays   John Agard says the coffee served in heaven Would leave us agitated If decaffeinated While the devil sat content with expresso brew  Continue reading “Morning Coffee”

My uncle John made a song about his friends He called it ‘The Attawalla Band’ That’s the way with peasantry and poetry Make a rhyme you always can command   Before the times of writing and of script Oral tradition is the thing Tell the story in a rhyme easy to recall Tell it outContinue reading “Oral Tradition”

  I used to watch Watercolour Challenge I loved its beauty its simplicity Margaret bought me sketchbooks and crayons Her faith in me methinks credulity   I tried to draw and colour from a photo A boat out sailing towards the Roonah Quay From out Clare Island harbour it was ploughing A place of beauty asContinue reading “Childlike Quality”

Conceived there But not born there I’ve being going back all my life To Mayo and to Erris by the sea At six months old they carried me And placed me cradle warm And Nan crossed me with iron Safe from harm   And people there know people What else would you do? The landContinue reading “Blessed In Erris”

I will find a place Where people cannot hurt me A wilderness remote from human ken I’ll build myself a home a log wood cabin Forage for berries fish and live alone   Left for dead A haemorrhage to the brain He’ll never speak He’ll never walk again Unconscious for so long His spirit deepContinue reading “Hermit – Hurt And Healing”

My mother’s eyes look at me from her bed Although it is Michael that she sees A photo that he took when visiting His Nan getting to know him by degrees   The look she gives is gentle as can be No sharp look no criticism here She has seen the world knows how itContinue reading “It’s Your Mother”

Today is ‘dreich’ The Scots express it well Dark and dreary Drizzle from the sky A greyness over everything Dank and damp and dour Enough to make you wonder What’s the point and why   And life can be like that The news forever grim Corruption in high places Everywhere just sin Famine in AfghanistanContinue reading “Light In The Dark”

Early morning cycling on my bike Over Piggy Bridge to Hindsford early Mass Into the holy porch and through a window I see John Byrne the server and the priest As first Mass ends and locals on their knees And God is praised in Lancashire again And I will serve the curate half past sevenContinue reading “Church Going”

English village churches Dot the landscape Hushed and quiet Standing peaceful still Around their walls A carpet of green sward Gravestones oddly angled A gathered congregation Reminding us of journey’s end God’s will   An age of faith maybe Yet troubled times They had their doubts Their challenges Just as we have ours Their quietContinue reading “Silent Witnesses”

It makes no sense When you haven’t got a lot To share with someone else Keep to yourself That’s the way we are The human condition Selfish individual Wars of attrition   The widow and her mite What is the point? An offering to God He doesn’t need But she needs God’s help In everyContinue reading “Pennies”