21. White breakers on a green sea
White breakers on a green sea
In military formation
Invading a winter beach
Beneath an unexpected rainbow.
The wind from France blows hard
Whipping spume and spray
Sounding a regular drumbeat
On the sandy forlorn shore.
Afar the light from Tuskar
Squints a timid blink of warning
To avoid the craggy rocks
Guarding the harbour of Rosslare.
The strand is deserted now
Dogs and children have retreated
To modest caravans and cottages lit
As darkness spreads its cloak.
22. Carne Beach
I walked in Carne along the beach
It brought my soul some peace
The tide was out and the wading birds
Called aloud as they did the spring before.
The tide took me home to the quiet womb
Of the self that hides most days
Mid cares and woes
The silly troubles of the hour.
Now looking back, how many things
Were worth the weight of worry?
How many fears have disappeared
And tasks that no longer count?
23. Watching waves
I watch the waves
As in a haze
Enjoy the spray
At end of day.
Soak up the surf
Enjoy the surge
A healing balm
A mental purge
The waves come running in
Only to retreat
Ebb and flow
Where the white waters meet.
And so our lives both ebb and flow
Scaling heights then sink below
The sea of life will throw us a line
If not now, then in its own time.
24. Sunday evening in sleepy Alcalá
The midday sun has gone away
The children now spill out to play
The evening breeze blows softly now
In the age-old Canarian way
Grandmothers in ancient shawls
Children laughing,
‘Come for supper’
A mother calls.
A life that's lived outside
The noisy street's a playground
Where the children run
Old men smoke and dream on.
A chat that goes till evening comes
And dusk takes prisoners of us all
Now captured by the tele
With soaps and noisy football
The cars pass slowly by
Along the tree-lined lane
Where neighbors wave
And no one's strange.
The richness of a local tribe
Lived close together
With young and old
A seamless simple life.
Life and death are here
Discussed and parsed each year
Love and loneliness that's torn
The human condition is reborn.
Chapter 2
25. To walk into the night silently
To walk into the night silently
When all the world’s asleep
I’m here alone to face the stars
Who’ve been with me since my birth
And yet tonight seem new.
Slip away quietly into the early dawn
Before the sleepy town awakes
Before the milk is placed
On slumbering doorsteps.
This is our private time to say goodbye
Reversing out the door while looking back
This is a last embrace
Not a sad goodbye.
It’s over now
I’ll take a bow
The fact that it’s finished
Doesn’t diminish
The excitement it stored.
For every season there is a time under heaven.
26. I close my eyes
I close my eyes
And see the world
I shield my ears
And hear the earth.
All the world’s goods
I give back now
They had their use
Life’s simpler somehow.
It’s time to give away
To shed that second coat
To give to him who’s none
Without a second thought.
The delight of serving
At last freed from hoarding
The joy of giving
Of giving while living
Nothing can be stolen
From him who is giving
Nothing can be taken
From an empty manger
Where once was born
A baby, gentle and mild
Who grew into a man
Who welcomed the stranger.
27. For granted
I took everything for granted
Til one day I couldn’t
‘One forty over ninety, pulse one twenty’
The worried doctor chanted.
The bright lights in the theatre
Grew dim as the anesthetic entered
Hazy voices melted,
Would I meet my maker?
As the charts and history books display,
I survived the op and was spared that day
But ever less conceited
To take good health for granted
Having seen the flimsy thread
That stayed the sword above my head.
I hope it doesn’t make me nervous
Just conscious that I’m lucky
To be writing from my office
Not having kicked the bucket.
I woke at last from sleep
Alive and oh so very grateful
So in love with nurses
And the cup of tea they made me.
Now approaching sixty-eight
I’ll do my best to keep on the straight
And healthy roads that lead
In time to an old folks home
Where the same success and failure
Wrestle in disinfected corridors.
28. Thought for today
Some hide their sorrows better than others
Some others spread laughter and a smile
Like rose petals during a wedding
Bringing joy wherever they go
The grace to float like a dancer
To move without trampling below
Without hurting an insect or flower
To waltz when the music is slow.
To spin and wheel to the melody
That plays with joy in our soul
While tenderly embracing our partner
As we skim once again round the floor
May the music keep playing forever
Long past the musicians have gone
Let us swirl and twirl with the stars
Here, now and way far beyond.
29. The heart is beating
The heart is beating
Don't assume it
Beating all the time.
The day will come
No more assuming
It beats a final turn.
Thump thump, it beats
Once every second,
Ignored and jilted
Till last wilted.
Oh faithful servant,
Oh toiling friend,
From early start
To evening end.
The seat of vigor,
The whole of health,
Abused, forgotten
Ignored and ill spent.
Let's embrace you
And protect you;
If not for you, for us.
Let's find a cure
With love and will
To make a heart that's pure.
30. Bad choice
Fearing rejection, she married the lad
He, Ugly and silent it was ever so sad
That a girl who had everything you sensed
Having looks and charm still lacked confidence.
Yet still the marriage lasted till at fifty-three
She met an old flame and felt weak at the knees
‘Why didn't you save me from this life of hell?’
‘You could always have knocked or rung on the bell’.
And so life was spent far off the main way
By taking the first exit she felt that it would pay,
Have courage young lovers showing no fears
Following you heart though many the years.
No comments:
Post a Comment