Impassive

A poem from 2017

A mind within a mind
It's spiralling out of control!
You just look on
That smug grin becomes you
The eyes burn

Chalk and Cheese

A poem from 2017

Opposites attract

But why would they?

Why should they?

Let them keep at arm’s length

Or live in turmoil everlasting

Maybe sparking each other into life

Excessive creativity

Intense annoyance

Bitterly sweet

Definitely maybe

Childlike adult

Coldly hot

Cruelly kind

And can you imagine writing on a blackboard with a block of cheddar?

And can you imagine drawing hopscotch on the pavement with a piece of stilton?

And can you imagine marking out a makeshift tennis court with a slab of emmentaler?

Against all the odds we make it work

The Righteous and the sinner

The crucified God and the penitent thief

The waiting Father and the prodigal son

A divine exchange

God becomes man and man is taken into the divine

We live in tension

The fruit of the Spirit

Now and not yet

Intense love - the love of the Father for the Son

This is ours

This is ours

Limerick One

A poem from 1986

there once was a girl called Sonia

whose name almost rhymed with “lasagne”

she loved eating rice

with a sprinkling of lice

and then she would be sick upon yer

Crabs

A poem from 2017

Dancing around each other

Hardened by life’s injustices

The pains of the past and the present

Terrified

Oh my soft centre

Can I let my guard down?

Can I let you break through?

This could hurt so much

Kick a man when he is down

That is what you do

And he never gets up again

He just lies there

And is it any wonder we’re alone?

Impossible

We stagger sideways

We are infected and rejected

Counterpoint

A poem from 2017

I hear what you're singing

A beautiful sound

A heavenly melody

Miles above my ground

A humbled man

Who tries to sing along

Poorly, I lift my voice

Accept my living song

Until Further Notice

A poem from 2017

Until further notice

Life will be tough

You will eat dust

There will be war

You will be crushed

There will be pain

The ground will be cursed

You will be barred from paradise

Until further notice

Buildings will fall

There will be liars

There will be wars

The earth will quake

Your knees will shake

There will be crimes

And perilous times

And you are in the privileged position

You can sit at home and watch this all happen to other people

Through the wonders of 24/7 media

Come, make the deserts bloom

Let the warmongers seek peace

Let pain cease

Let the blessing take over

Lead us into eternal bliss

Build a holy house

Speak the truth

Make us strong

Let there be love

Until further notice

We divide

We sin

We hate

We cry

We kill

Strain

A poem from 2017

I'm being crushed
The world is on my back
I don't think there's a way out
It's hard to breathe
I can't take the strain much longer

Dance Off

A poem from 2017

Listen to an audio performance

You’ve been doing this all your life

And you’re still not very good at it

No matter how much effort you put into it

You drag your partner down

And now you’re almost the worst of the worst

A stain on the competition

The judges judge

And you stand there meekly

While inside indignation arises

The mean one

The encouraging one

The condescending one

The loving one

But the end result is the same

Down you go

The public judges

The apathetic ones

The sympathetic ones

The apoplectic ones

The ones with the blood of former dancers on their hands

You tremble and your heart thumps in your chest

But the end result is the same

Down you go

Down you go into a gladiatorial battle

And having done your best you await the verdict

The pretty music fades to be replaced with drums

Mimicking your heartbeat

Mocking you

You must wait until that long pause is over

Then you learn your fate

The lights go out above you

The heartbeat stops

You collapse to the floor in slow motion

You open your mouth but can emit no scream

And there you lay

Wide eyed and shocked

Your life flashes before your eyes

And a new judge walks onto the stage

He bends down with concern

Compassion lightens his features

He places his hand on your forehead and whispers

You feel a strange peace

He touches your lips with his

And gently blows a reviving spirit into your lungs

He tells you to get up and walk

With tears in your eyes you comply

Slowly and thankfully

You bow towards him

You have been reprieved

And now you dance a different dance

To a different tune

Piped by the lord of the dance

And you breathe more easily

Spore

A poem from 2017

I'm sitting here

I'm waiting patiently

Biding my time

Quietly

My day will come

You don't even notice me

Or if you do you comment inanely

Then walk on by

This is my life

Waiting

I'm good at it

I have plenty of practice

The trigger will come

I know it will

It might be you

And if it is, what devastation you'll cause!

Like a coiled spring

But I don't feel the tension

It will be a joy to me

When I release havoc

Multiplying my wicked ways

It won't take much

So many are ripe to do my will

I will be your parasite

I will cause terror far and wide

Just you wait and see!

Just you wait like me!