Category Archives: Uncategorized

No one can be ElvisNot even ElvisAll too muchThis shouting screaming larkWhen the singer not the songBecomes the businessWe’ve lost our wayWe’re stumbling in the dark A person is just a personJust a personLet them beDon’t idolise a godIf you do you’ll kill themJust as surelyAs if you took a gunAnd made the shot WeContinue reading “Elvis”

I loved learning LatinGreek even moreSix years of learningThen dropped to the floorA novitiate of pious prayingNo study then allowedThen six years in a wildernessSeminary shroud Glad to hearIt’s coming backClassical educationLearn the languageRead the poetsStudy a civilisation What a foolish notionYears agoTo drop all Latin studyRemoving it from mainstreamThinking it ‘fuddy duddy’Promoting all thatContinue reading “I Love Latin”

On seeing a photograph of Maria Am Gestade Church in Vienna. This church is tall and slimPoints up to heavenConcentrates the gaze on sanctuaryThe saints in stained glass windowsLooking downChrist on the crossThe centreGold array No theatre in the roundAll eyes look frontLook east look upTowards the rising sunLook to heavenThe goal of every journeyTheContinue reading “Gothic Church”

Watching a debateAbout the First World WarPros and consShould we have fought at all?The matter of the Boer WarBritain’s behaviour there‘Less than admirable’A speaker did declare English understatementGets you off the hookBetter than ‘bloody awful’Any dayMinimalising languageAdmit but do not sayDo not spell outOr give the game away First casualty of warAs we knowThe truthContinue reading “The Words We Use”

You have to make the worldA better placeCo-create, theology would sayYou can’t sit watching tellyAll day longThat way you just disintegrate Disintegrate – what a perfect wordTo lose the unity of your living soulFragment to broken piecesShattered shardWhen all the yearsShould really make us whole I have been a writerAll my lifeA preacher tooBut firstContinue reading “What Are You Doing?”

When I am lifted upThen you will knowWhat will we know?What will we come to see?I will draw all people to myselfHe saidI will not forceI will not make you doYou must come to see the truthFor you My way leads only to a crossNot of my choosingLet me make that plainNo death wish hereContinue reading “Cross”

Cradle catholicJust like meHas always felt the faithHas always knownGod is watching onNot the big policemanNo the loving dadThe one who always caresSo what you’ve done Prayer he knowsIs total honestyThe only conversation of its kindAll other speechIs hemmed round with precautionSensitive to others’ view and mind Faith is consolationYes that’s trueIt’s also challengeWhat youContinue reading “Pal Of My Cradle Days”

MulrannyMediterranean in the sunExotic plants and flowers hereHolidaymakers’ funSea breeze in Clew BayA fine hotelOnce a railway station here as wellWestport down to AchillCome and stay A lovely spotThere’s nothing more to sayWell that’s not trueAdjectives pile highA beauty spot of natureHills stand up behindIn front majestic oceanClew confined Across the bayCroagh PatrickMurrisk shoreWaves rollContinue reading “Surprise in Mulranny”

Jesus never moaned or complainedHe spoke on the level all the timeTeaching his disciplesFamiliar talk at homeEngagement with opponentsChime with chime He spoke in quiet placesWith his FatherA well of deep compassionStirred withinFabricated plots he lancedSo calmlyAnd calmly faced the crowdAnd faced the din He spoke with PilateClearly man to manNo cowering orIntimidation hereOn theContinue reading ““No one has ever spoken like this man””

I lived for six years in Death ValleyNot CaliforniaSenior seminaryCut off from life aroundA wildernessA living deathIt killed the soul in me Ken RobinsonHe spoke about Death ValleyHow it’s not dead but dormantSo he saidWhen rain or snow meltVisits that dead cornerA carpet of flowersIn springtime shows its head A child needs right conditionsIf toContinue reading “Right Conditions”

When they write the booksAnd we are historyThe world will be a very different placeThe times are always changingThanks to DylanI think I know youI think I’ve seen your face Still the same old creaturesNew conditionsNew ways of beingPossibilitiesDistance lends perspective to our storiesSharper definitionClarity Saints and sinnersPopulate the storyNaming them and shaming themThe taskTheContinue reading “Treasure House”

My mother always fed us when we came‘A great cook, your mother,’ daddy saidA way of love a welcomeSit up to the tableCome now come and share my bread We need that food every day we liveWithout it we never will surviveOur spirit needs the sameNot entertainmentNourishment is neededIf we’re to thrive What feeds theContinue reading “Good Food”

I sat and said aloudThat prayer for breadOur Father who art in heavenIs what I saidGive us this day our daily breadAnd then I got the busWent to WaitroseOur trespasses forgive usWhat I said My prayer was answeredAnd today with styleA bread I never knewSat in the aisleCampaioulleSourdough with a smileWaiting just for meTo comeContinue reading “Daily Bread”

Motorcars are monstersShouldn’t be on the road!Since I gave up drivingThat’s my viewI take a walkI take a busGently into townMotor driversWhat a wicked crew! Bus and train and tramAre gentle moversSafer than the single motorcarMotorcarsEssence of independenceMove too fastDon’t know where you are Many folk are idiots on the roadYoung men especially can beContinue reading “Car Crash”

My grandfatherA man I never knewDied in 1920Got the ‘fluCould not read or writeThe census saidI saw the mark he madeTo say all’s true He was bilingualSpoke the Gaelic tongueWorked his farmA brother lived next doorAll under one roofCattle tooNo outhousesThey sharing the same floor Eight childrenBorn and reared thereinSix girls two boysFed and wateredContinue reading “Anthony Carey”