Fire of Your Grace

Fire of Your Grace

Help me understand,
My life is in your hand,
And bid me cease my striving
For a peace
That is only found
In surrender

Speak to me
Of the rising of the Son
The new life He brings
The song we sing
As life awakens
And spring
Comes

The seed
Planted in the dark
Peeks out
Into the slowly awakening
New life
Seen in the ashes of winter

Whisper to me
Of the love
Ever present
Yet so much clearer
In the lengthening days

Somehow
In the desert that is my life
And the cave of my tattered heart
I lose my way
And lost
Search frantically
For warmth and comfort
Unaware of the fire of your love, ever present
Just a touch, just a breath away

All I need do
Is cease the pacing
The searching
The self-induced yearning
And turn back to the warmth
To the fire of your grace
Your love,

Your peace

And simply
Be

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This is the Me I Hide

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This is the me
I run away from
The broken one
The yearning one
Wanting to be alone
Yet running scared

A breather
Much needed
Rescues me
From the running
And I rest

Sometimes
We are so busy
We forget
What living is
The gift of life
Taken for granted

Yesterday
Is no more
Yet its lessons
Prepare us

Today
Is all we have
What we learn
Protects us
From when tomorrow comes
And today
Becomes another yesterday

We learn to teach,
And teaching, learn,
A perfect circle
Symmetry
But to learn
We need to listen
And listening needs silence
To truly understand

Lessons of the heart
Require silence
Total surrender
Of time and space
A place
To absorb
To learn
To accept

Who I am
Who You truly are
Who I am
In You

You
Gave me life
You are the air I breathe
The blood in my veins
Giving me life
The essence of every thought
My very intellect
Selfhood
A gift
From You
The author of my life

Bid me remember
When the traffic returns
When life gets hectic once more
That I may be distracted
But You remain

Whether the sky is blue
Or rain pounds the door
Snow blanketing the ground
When the leaves fall
Dancing gracefully
Pirouetting to the ground
You are there
In it all
And through it all
Your love hallmarks
Everything

All I ask
Is You bid me
Call me
To rest
Your whisper
In the tumult of life

“You are mine
I am Your God,
Rest in Me”

Let me shelter
In the shadow of your wing
Until the journey is over
And you call me home

Cursillo Retreat 18 - 21 November 2021, New Work 2021

Author of my Life

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The clouds break
I wake
From the shadows of the night
The morning light
Fills my gaze

Today
Is not like
Any other day
It stretches before me
An unknown vista
The horizon
Beckoning me forth

I am eager to begin
But my heart
Is reticent
Hesitating
On the threshold
Of my life

Sometimes
The sweep of today
Concerns me
I am anxious
And prefer to hide away

Your love
Gently reminds me
This journey
Is not mine alone
A constant companion
You walk beside me

Turn my gaze
From the fear
That haunts my days
Leads my heart a merry dance
And leads me to bolt the door
And turn away

For my journey
Is never over
And will never be
Until the author of my life
Writes the final line
And calls me home

Cursillo Retreat 18 - 21 November 2021

Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock

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Why do I hide
Not let you inside
Slam shut the door
Of my heart?

Why do I feel
Such fear
When so near
Is the one
Who cures
All my ills

Is it because
I fear
To lose control
If my soul belongs
To You?

Why am I worried
When Your love
Has filled my heart
My soul
Belongs to You
Alone?

Teach me
In the silence
That surrender to You
Is the answer
To all my desires

My journey
My searching
Always
Lead me back
To You

So remind me
As I hide behind my castle walls
That I must come down
From that tree
And learn to be free

Once more

Cursillo Retreat 18 - 21 November 2021

If I Listen, All Will be Well

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If I listen
I hear you calling my name
Yes, if I listen
My life will never be the same

God of my journey
Be by my side
To heal, protect
Love and guide

Let your love
Pour over my thirsty land
Speak in the rain
Of Your love
Help me understand

That life is a journey
And I’m not alone
There are others who travel
And some who have gone on before

Talk to me softly
Of a love that endures
Father of creation
I am utterly yours

My peace is only present
If you are near
Every tear
Wiped away

My life is yours
You gave it to me
I offer it freely
Help me
Not to try and take It back
When storms threaten
And fear
Knocks at my door

Tell me in the breeze
Of Your Holy constancy
Love me when I am near
Or far away
My day is lost
Without You by my side

All I need to know
Is I am Yours
My God
And all will be well
All things
Will be well

Cursillo Retreat 18 - 21 November 2021

Today

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What will I do?
Today
Sail away
Or stay
On the shore?

Who will I see
Today
A friend
A colleague
Or much more?

Will I see
the canvas
that is the sky
Or will I
Simply pass it by?

Stretching
to tomorrow
Causing sorrow
To the present
They call
Today

For life
Isn’t lived
yesterday
Or tomorrow
It’s here
It’s now
It’s

Today…

New Work 2021, November 2021

A Voice Made of Wood and Steel

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Isn’t it strange? When we struggle to pray, silence robs our expression

And here you are

I put you in a bag, leave you aside

Why do I do that?

You are my voice when words falter

Wood and steel

Strings that ring, calling me to whisper my needs to you

Wood resonates, and the words unbidden echo

In my soul

Like the melodies from you

need a voice

yours helps me find it

Maybe
Your presence
Makes me feel less abandoned
I’m not really sure

I just know
When I hold you in my hands
And you sing
I feel alive

Covid has stolen my expression
But yours still sings
Teach me
How to echo
Your melody
And begin
To remember

Mine

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God of Love

God of love
Call me out
Of my daily life
Bid me rest 
At end of day

For your love
Is ever near
I can often hear
You call my name
The patter of the rain
Calls my name

When fear beckons
As I journey through each day
Whisper to my heart
The words that tell me
Of your love
Stronger than death
Closer than my breath
Holding my heart
Next to yours

And when night falls
Like a cloak
Fear stalks
On the prowl
For the unwary
Remind me 
That I am in your care
Your love is there
Holding me close
Till morning comes

Love me
Morning, noon, night
Remind me that your sight
Is ever near
And I am in your gaze

Nothing should I fear
For you are near
My rod, my staff
My heart is in your hands

May 2021, New Work 2021

Instrumental Music and Poetry – a Different Perspective

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For most people, an instrumental peice of music is relaxing, a chance to zone out.

For me, certainly for quite a few peices, instrumental music clicks a switch and words pour out. Most of the time, I can’t keep up with it. Tonight was no exception, I think I broke my standing record of 5 one after the other, I think it was 6

After 30+ years of writing, I should be used to it happening, but certainly that number, always catches me by surprise.

The strangest experience has been that, lately, I don’t really feel the poetry the way I used to. Those who know me know of the fraught time March 2010 to September 2011 was. Suffice it to say the family was pummeled with illness and my dad didn’t make it out, he died 3 March 2011 and life literally has never been the same

The six poems are here on the site and are listed below. Just click on the name of the poem you want to read and it will take you to it.

Author of My Life
Pour Your Gifts
Blest Are They
Night Falls
God of Love

May 2021, New Work 2021

Author of My Life

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What Lord can I give you
Broken as I am?
In total surrender
I turn to You

Author of my story
Teller of my life
You, my lord, in glory
And I in my strife

Teach me you are present there
In all the pain and rage
When the people gathered see
The anguish on my stage

Bid me come to you and hold me in your hand
Your love is eternal, stretching o’er every land
Bid me rest in you, and let my cares be still
For they fade away in the light of day
Yet your love never will

When the fears taunt me
Bid me come to you
And when night terrors scare me so
Father, love me true
Till the break of day

May 2021, New Work 2021