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The smell of pipe tobacco Lingering in the air I climbed a wooden step Up a wooden stair Round again and up again An aperture appeared A doorway into heaven A vision and I the seer   A square of green A paradise A surface all for play Surrounded by adoring stands And crowds toContinue reading “Climbing Up To Heaven”

Your mother tells you When you step outside Be good she says That will give me pride Whatever else you do Where e’er you go Be good she says All I want to know   Talent and achievement Very fine Running races Crossing the finishing line Coming top of class Win the prizes Best atContinue reading “Written In Heaven”

Mister Farnon Mister Herriot Siegfried Tristan James Missus Hall housekeeper and boss Your house is so inviting Fireplace living room Cosy kitchen Yorkshire life and loss   Drama in the everyday Confrontation talk Expectations intimations All those Yorkshire folk Your lives concerned with animals Their welfare and their needs But really it’s the people RequiringContinue reading “A Yorkshire Tale”

  A ‘dies non’ today Not a work day not a holiday A day to suspend usual activity A silent day my usual proclivity   Sat in my chair And nodded off a while Easy to do Becoming now my style Like those old folk You see in care home parlours Practising an art DozingContinue reading “Part And Parcel”

I am most important Don’t you see? Important in myself Not just to me I am a child I have a holy face To disfigure it The ultimate disgrace   I am Sarah Everard you see Sabina Nessa too You’ve heard of me The teacher walking out to meet a friend Attacked and killed MyContinue reading “My Life”

He was a voice Crying in a wilderness A nice young man Ordained to be a priest Ordained to speak For goodness and for truth The people came Wise despite his youth   Crowds built up In thousands Just to hear him Monthly mass To set old Poland free Authorities threaten to detain him TheContinue reading “Witness To Truth”

God’s help is nearer than the door In Ireland the door Wasn’t far away at all A few steps from the hearth That was all   That cosy Irish cottage With turf fire burning bright And soda bread and boxty My annual delight   A table in the middle And cousins all around The rosaryContinue reading “Nearer Than The Door”

I took a tablet When I was ill And yes it calmed me down But the greatest help To mental health Was a counsellor in town   The talking cure Relationship Compassionate therapy Belonging and connection Restored my sanity   Human ills are human They need the human touch Do not ask, ‘what’s wrong withContinue reading “What Happened To You?”

The Son of Man Has nowhere to lay his head He’d said goodbye to home And Nazareth bed Bid farewell To those quiet hidden years Set out on the road That held so many tears   Never again A home to call his own The carpenter’s shop That peaceful comfort zone Now great strides IntoContinue reading “Rest”

Crash detectives analyse the scene What happened here? This scar this smashed windscreen This mangled wreck A recent music box Hurtling along Now a tale of shocks   Detailed examination of the road Test for wet for skid marks And the load Then examine people Alcohol cocaine Contributory factors Increasing someone’s pain   Thoughtless peopleContinue reading “Chariots Of Fire”

Saturday evenings five o’clock Hush now radio Sports report and football results Pools coupon x or o Daddy at the table Looking for eight draws Evening fun and games Put on pause   And raffle tickets strewn about the house In his pockets In top drawer and all And betting slips a regular occupation GrandContinue reading “Gambling”

We all know what the end will be We don’t know where or when It doesn’t need to bother us It can stay beyond our ken If we knew it  – it would bother us Occupy the mind Better not to know these things Not knowing is so kind   But Jesus knew that roadContinue reading “Resolute For Jerusalem”

Don’t look so glum Bad moods are like a cloud They will pass Wise words from an Irish granny To young Steve Teenage blues on Irish holiday A lesson from the sky For those who grieve   But sadly there are those Who do not hear The words of wisdom Nothing comes to cheer AndContinue reading “Papyrus”

Everyone goes to work Runs a car I just walk Mind I don’t go far Walk up to the Coop Or bus straight into town Life is simple now Easy up and down   My occupation writing Observations on a life No tirades I hope not Not really one for strife Comments on the worldContinue reading “Eh Up”

Some people Seem to have all the luck Or so we like to think Making a success of life Never kitchen sink Whereas our life project Sank without a trace Hit the buffers On our uppers Days we cannot face   Disciples in the doldrums Envy the chosen three Jesus’ inner circle Not frozen outContinue reading “Life Story”