Category Archives: Uncategorized

  ‘Out of the Blue’ is the name of the tune They play it every week At five o’clock on Saturdays When football scores you seek   Originally written for an air display A tune to raise your hopes Did we win or did we lose Are we on the ropes?   I sat inContinue reading “Sports Report”

  I was very sad in those days And didn’t know what to do I kept it hidden all inside Nobody helped me through   Priests and girls don’t fall in love If they do it’s trouble Come away and shut it down Back inside your bubble   But now I’m older Played the gameContinue reading “The Face Of Truth”

Children like to make their mark Crayons on a page I carved my initials on a gate Added then my age   Learning how to read and write Sends us on our way I have a book I have my sight A poem every day   Bruce my dog he left his mark Paw printContinue reading “Good Marks”

I wish he hadn’t goneThat Jack GrealishI wish he’d stayed at VillaSo I doBuild a team around himBoyhood dream fulfilInstead it’s moneybagsThe modern game is ill Human greed every timeGets the upper handI want this and I want thatSuccess I cannot standWhere is the playfulness of lifeWhere the fun in sportWhen money creams the bestContinue reading “The Game”

Early morning mistEthereal blanketCalming souls before the rush of dayQuiet silken shadow of the morningHushed the world before the hectic play Sleepy rooftopsPeering through the silverPeople stirring from their cosy bedsFind a world so steeped in meditationSilence slowly circulates their heads Step so gentlyDo not disturb the morningLet the soundless airflow have its waySoon aContinue reading “A Misty Morning”

I never went to nightclubsNever used themAt seminaryBedtime was at tenBut I recognise the needFor camaraderieTo be in groupsGo out and have some fun As long as it’s in groupsThe night is wholesomeBut meeting strangersThat’s a different gameAlone in a crowdIs stranger dangerAnd never coming homeA crying shame In the old daysWe talked of parishContinue reading “Nightclubs”

47 was all she gotAnd I’m on 74Numbers now don’t mean a lotWe edge closer to the door What matters is the spiritIn which we live our livesWhat in truth life’s meritAll that life contrives Wisdom in the everydayKindness to anotherPatience where we find delayEndurance where there’s bother Faith brings knowledge to my doorI knowContinue reading “Length Of Days”

I woke up in the glenIn the morningThe sun already dancing in the skyDublin Hill I spied from the windowTuiscean brightThe river running by I came down from the roomTo smell the breakfastTurf fire burningAshes stirred to blazeA place at the table for the rashersHomemade bread and teaAunt Annie’s gaze Those days are goneThe peopleContinue reading “Waking In The Glen”

ResistBut do not rant and raveKeep your powder dryContain yourselfBe dutifulIt will come in the by and by The gates of hell cannot resistThe power of heaven’s callStand up for all that’s good and trueThe evil one will fall YesA share of sufferingWill surely come your wayStand firm against the evil oneBe patient in delayContinue reading “The Gates Of The Underworld”

An old friend came to visit me todayWe met in townWhere bus and trains collideWe walked the sunny streetsAnd found King’s ParkAnd sat an hourAnd talked as if the tideOf days and nights and months and yearsHad never been betweenAnd we – two student friendsIn Rome when we were youngEnjoying pizza pasta vino tooStudying scriptureContinue reading “An Old Friend”

Two disciplesWalking down a roadDeep in conversationHeavy loadApproached by strangerListening to their talkGets in stepJoins them on their walk Sad, sad thingsHe hears their sorry taleOf one who met a crossAnd felt the nailTheir own hope had been…But what’s the pointTheir hope is goneThe times are out of joint And that’s my story tooThe wayContinue reading “Road to Emmaus”

Keely HodgkinsonTake a bowYou’ve done us Lankys proudAtherton and Leigh HarriersAnd now the GB crowd I used to runWhen I was youngI was fast at schoolDad talked about Leigh HarriersThat would have beenCould have been cool You’ve got a natural talentGreat staminaPowerful thighsA good head on your shouldersA brightness in your eyes The race demandsWeContinue reading “The Race”

I fought with Kenny on the crescentHe provoked me to a fightMammy wanted to interveneLeave him it’s all rightMy father’s wordsWere wisdom thenDo not break his spiritLet him fight his battles nowLet him earn his merit I did not winI did not loseWe both fought very wellAccepted one another thenBoth of us lived to tellAndContinue reading “War Games”

I need to mark the dayThat’s what I feelOrdination DayWhen I was youngWhen I’d been locked away for thirteen yearsAway from lifeFrom what I could become They day itselfSo sunny and so brightLots of people cameTo wish me wellMum arranged a CeilidhFor that nightEveryone cameEveryone enjoyed the fun It was all wrongMaking me a priestWhenContinue reading “2nd August 1970”

When someone diesWords come to an endSilence reignsFor memory we sendThinking of the daysThe hours we spentYou and I togetherNow it’s rent When mammy diedI made a cup of teaMiddle of the nightJust dark and meAware a worldShe no longer knewAbsorb that truthOne day it will be you The Lord upon the crossShows how toContinue reading “When I Die”