We find ourselves almost halfway through the season of Lent as we gradually and most assuredly move toward Easter. Sadly, as I write there are not many things we can be sure about as the horror of war grows even more horrific for so many in Ukraine. I turn to the work of the poetContinue reading “Maps!”
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Restless heart!
I turn once again to my high school poetry book, which has been in my possession since 1971 and has traveled with me from N. Ireland to Scotland and then to USA and has resided on my bookshelves in KS, MO, FL, KY and now once again in MO! In the book’s wide sweep ofContinue reading “Restless heart!”
After every war…
This continues to be an awful time as we live through such an atrocity. War never has winners. I am bereft of words. My heart feels such pain and I feel so isolated and helpless, day after day I watch the agony of innocent families trying to escape yet desperate to return to their homeland.Continue reading “After every war…”
Poems don’t stop a war!
In the midst, and in the wake of war, a whole genre of poetry has emerged over many hundreds of years which we sweepingly call “war poems”. Let us be honest, poems don’t stop a war! Yet such poems often carry within them four characteristics that it is important to observe. Above all they formContinue reading “Poems don’t stop a war!”
Accept the miracle
Tabgha is the name of a site on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee where Jesus appeared after his resurrection (John 21), and where he earlier multiplied loaves and fishes to feed the crowds gathered to hear him teach. The present church preserves within some of its walls remains of a church that stood hereContinue reading “Accept the miracle”
Give
We are each familiar with the morning scene on High Streets, Main Streets, City Streets. We don’t have to travel far to come across the plight of the homeless, whose only comfort might be a warm blanket on a door step, hoping some indoor heat might escape. Why are we tempted to walk a littleContinue reading “Give”
Mothers!
Today, I am staying with the work of the poet Carol Ann Duffy. In her collection of poems entitled Feminine Gospels pub.2005 we are treated to poems which describe the endless tasks of women. Historical and imagined, real-life and larger than life Duffy explores the experience of women. Today, I share her poem Work inContinue reading “Mothers!”
Mrs. Sisyphus!
The position of Poet Laureate in the United Kingdom in recent decades became a 10 year appointment, and is an honorary position of the royal household and the gift of the Monarch on the advice of the Prime Minister. There is a small honorary stipend along with a “butt” (barrel) of sherry – which isContinue reading “Mrs. Sisyphus!”
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus is my hometown. It is hard to take a bad photograph of the castle, around which the town took its shape and by it, it is defined! Originally built in 1177 it has stood tall and proud for many centuries with some significant updates! In 1182, the Anglo Norman, John de Courcy who hadContinue reading “Carrickfergus”
Snow
These past few days more than enough snow has fallen on the north east, and as I write, here in the mid-west we are bracing for ice and snow in the next few days, with 6-10inches forecast! Snow shovels are at the ready. The winter Olympics start this weekend and we have been told aContinue reading “Snow”
Prayers, Poems, and Christian Ponderings 