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Just stepped outsideThe air is deathly stillNot a soundThe calm before the stormI know my life is quietBut not like thisI can hear this stillnessScotland true to form People are gathering in housesI saw a fellow getting bottles inThe gathering of the clanIt stands to reasonThe SassenachIs coming o’er the hill For ScotsThis day ofContinue reading “Before the Game”

Lay Me Down My bedroom welcomes meAt ten of nightThe sight the thought of restful sleepDelightHow blessed am ITo have this happy homeTo live here safe and soundAlthough alone Some folk are sleepingOn the streetSome in hostelsFeeling the defeatOf life beyond their powerTo forfendSome aloneRelations at an end Amy McDonald liked to singWhere you goingContinue reading “Lay Me Down”

I paint with my penWords my metierHaving been a preacherIt was vital in that danceI also loved to singWhen I was youngerI felt the forceOf music to entrance Other forms attract meSimply to admireThe painterIn particular I lovePaul HenryOut in AchillScenes I know so wellDark blue mountainsHigh blown cloudsRough Atlantic swell Postcards from the edgeJohnContinue reading “Artist in the West”

Do you want to know?About English industryI can tell youI grew up in a townThat knew it wellCoalmines and cotton millsA factory down the roadBreathing coal dustFoggy morning swell Do you want to know?About Irish peasantryI can tell youI lived there every yearBack in my mother’s placeThe wildest, wildest westThe land of ErrisThe land sheContinue reading “Anglo-Irish Relation”

I have seen them in the distanceWhile passing on a trainThe villages of EnglandI will not see again A hazy spire a sturdy towerA low and silent navePerhaps a lych-gate at the frontNo doubt a tidy grave A straggle of houses in a streetA cosy pub no doubtA manor house somewhere close byA powerful man’sContinue reading “Villages of England”

Jesus is the keyTo this world’s mysteryI saw it as a childI knew it trueThe crib at ChristmasBabe in strawThe bread communionSacramental aweThe tabernacle presenceLamp alight The Stations of the CrossAround the wallsHoly water incenseChoir stallsThe mystery of sufferingFaced and not forgottenDeath embracedAnd all our human falls I want to live forever‘Course I doI wantContinue reading “I Believe in Jesus Christ”

We have to deal with peopleAs they areNot as we would like them to bePutin seemed a nice guyBut remember he’s KGBDictator nowHe’s trapped by power you see Once you overstep the markYou are burdened now with blameA certain thing – accountabilityYou cannot shake it off yourselfIt sticks to you like glueOnly confession absolutionOnly thatContinue reading “Truth Will Out”

The bins appear on Wednesday nightFor collection in the morningWe oldies are a predictable sightYou’ll never catch us dawdling Our bins are lined up in a rowGreen or blue or brownAnd grey sometimes for general stuffThey all will take their turn Glass goes too a box we haveYou can often see inside herWhat kind ofContinue reading “The Bins”

Matthew 6:1-6. 16-18 We don’t live lifeWe watch it on TVWe spend our lives watchingHow much do we see? We don’t lookWe record it on our phoneWe’ll watch againIn the evening zone This watching habitTranslates into ‘be seen’Making a good imageNow our dream Jesus tells usDon’t go on paradeImpressing othersWanting highest grade Live life straightContinue reading “Being Seen”

Mammy liked watching CountdownEvery dayThat teatime test of numbersVerbal skillsI can see her standingIn her bungalowMaking up a wordDrills or frills A mental testThe music got to meWorried meAs seconds ticked awayDistracted from the exerciseOf spellingI saw and heardThe approaching doom of day In life tooThe clock is slowly tickingIn truthIt’s going fasterBy the dayInsteadContinue reading “Countdown”

He was a Scots ladMy father saidHe died in desert sandsMy father warned himBut he drank it anywayWoke up in the morningFound him lying thereStiff as a boardMy father saidThat was just the way Fighting there in Africa1942Desert Rats againstAfrika KorpsRommel an impressive foeBritish on the runLooking bleakWhat are we fighting for? News from homeContinue reading “Ouzo”

I lived inside a monastery in RomeIn the heart of RomeNear Maria MaggioreA building large and coolLong corridors the ruleAnd quiet roomsFor study and for snore Large window looked downOn inner courtyardQuiet paths and treesFor silent walksOutside the constantTraffic noise of RomaPizzeria full of Roman talk At breakfastI could see the ColosseumTouch it with myContinue reading “Sant’ Alfonso ~ Roma”

Tyldesley wasIntensity of coal dustCoal dirt commonGrime on every wallMillsTowering blocksGlass windowed factoriesMachineryWomen mouthing wordsThrough constant noise Men down minesDeep down in the darkIn the lightHave a pint a larkWhippets and allotmentsBowling greens the parkKeeping pigeonsKeep a vital spark Wimpeys was a step upFrom miners housesFrom terraced streetsWhere David used to dwellBuilt up in theContinue reading “My Home Town”

Double-decker bus I got todayUpstairs sitting at the frontLooking at the roadIn front of meHow does he manage it?How avoid a shunt? Cars on either sideYet no collisionBranches of a treeAll greeneryManaged to avoid themTrundled on insteadInto townThe bus deposited me Banks have machinesThat eat your chequesI fed it two todayIt seemed quite pleasedRead outContinue reading “Give Us This Day”

I went to the hospital at nightEvening visitationJust for meI’d driven up from EnglandFrom the southA whole day’s driveBounty Bars my tea I came into the roomShe rose from bedSit over thereSit over there she saidAnd lifting youSo gently from your cotThe greatest giftI held your sleeping head Gently as I satShe took a picIContinue reading “Michael”