My father said we are going on a picnic

My father said we are going on a picnic
To a place across the sea
There were tears behind his eyes
And a tremor in his voice
But he smiled as he lifted me onto his knee
And said he loved me ...

My father said we are going on a picnic
But that countless others were coming too
It is such a faraway magical place where no bombs fall
And instead of rubble to play in
There will be a beach and fine golden sand
Where we can laugh and sing our traditional songs in peace ...

My father said we are going on a picnic
Bags packed and huddled in a flimsy boat
He told me not to look into the dark waters
To hold tight his hand
Tears were falling from his eyes
And the tremor in his voice was now a violent shaking ...

My father said we are going on a picnic
His face turned towards the distant horizon
I leaned on him - my strong tree
I heard him speak into the gloom as we set sail
His hands now clutching his knees
'How my heart is aching - God go with us - please' ...

I love to sit in this courtyard

I love to sit in this courtyard
At a certain time before closing
Gulls squall for the briefest of moments
But we are so far from the sea
So far from home

Book of Hours

Start again the Book
Start again
To gaze
Pass the glass
Open eyes
To Time
Falling like sand
Through tired fingers
[Hourglass it is filling]
Slip away
My Love
[Before it is too late]
Behold Aloneness
In the mirror
And see
[The image of God]

I dreamt it was possible to lose you

I dreamt it was possible to live empty handed
And to have no hold
Never to behold
No one to fold into myself to become whole

I dreamt I saw Love's ghost last night
Wondering
Wandering across Heart's vast plane

I listened but there were no words
Just the sweeping of longing in the aching wind

retrospect

colours faded
carpets worn
threadbare emotions
hang like curtains
no longer able
to keep out the cold

markers bob
on the deep sea
the break water
the island
the sailing boats
and naval ships

birds dart
the headland beckons
the horizon calls
and the sun keeps
breaking through
the chill of the clouds

Two strong swimmers
in tandem
cut through
the dark waters
and return shimmering
to the shore

Photo that inspired the poem by John Larkin

the sound ...

of emptiness within the sound of sirens, the wind stirred trees, the creaking of the house and the heart therein
the sound ...
of silence within each worded moment - let it bring you to the verge of ...
tears

They sent me away

They sent me away, they did, smiling and waving, few provisions in my sack, no compass, save the flickering stars

And what a night it was, howling moaning wind whispering through every part of my poor aching body

Speaking softly and slowly a prayer from an ancient book: Help me, O LORD my God: O save me according to thy mercy* …

And there it was, just the fact of a sole figure moving into darkness and the vastness of space

*Psalm 109:26