It’s the things that aren’t said that hurt the most.
I can hear the tower clock chime from my pillow
It is the only constant I hear.
But even this clock;
I envy the care and attention
it receives for its restoration.
I hope to have its constancy at heart.
Spiritus Sanctus:
‘O Holy Spirit, as the sun is full of light, the ocean full of water,
Heaven full of glory, so may my heart be full of thee.’
I love all the unseen things about you
I wait for them to make themselves known
a word, a look, a gesture, a smile
a gift of Love – one treasure I own.
When I stand before the body, in the flesh
I am confused. It’s You that I miss.
I respond in words I don’t understand
I lose part of myself in this.
Waiting for the unseen,
the centre of our being
to come forward again
In the Spring.
When you play, your work, your dream
it is there – the unseen
making music in my ears
as sweet as a song of songs.
Sweet fruit. Spring flush
Eat, dear friends, and drink your fill of love¹
The days were Made for this.
The season of singing has come.²
Love stronger than death
burns like a Mighty fire
Many waters cannot quench
Nor rivers sweep it away.³
By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life. –Psalm 42:8
Image source: ‘Looking through the trees to the stream’ by John Groves
Across the vastness and darkness
I happened upon
a humble kind-hearted one
The doors were wide open
many creatures entered care
But some left in wonder
pacing, staring over
how to cross the blue yonder
without paying the fare.
Acknowledgements: Cheyne Geligan (RIP 2003) ‘Till the Sky’ by The Simpletons
Quote from Dubliners by James Joyce in “Two Gallants”
“He thought how pleasant it would be to have a warm fire to sit by and a good dinner to sit down to. He had walked the streets long enough with friends and with girls. He knew what those friends were worth: he knew the girls too.
Experience had embittered his heart against the world.
But all hope had not left him. He felt better after having eaten than he had felt before, less weary of his life, less vanquished in spirit.”
Like a bolt out of the blue they came to me
Standing in wait as I walked aimlessly
In the dark, the day, back street, bar pew
The night market, car park, the mall
Just standing around head looking down
Saying words under their breath
The names have escaped, their faces erased
But if not for intervention it was surely death
For just the week before or the night after last
Another girl just like me had also walked past
But they met a different face and ever since had paid
Ultimate price for freedom to walk out past late
Fellow from far North under dim street light
Walkabout round nowhere I’d been serving tables
Waiting just to take me in and serve me soy tea
He showed me what it meant to set my Spirit free
The woman waiting patiently each day on every street
For the one to hear her words and in turn agree
She gave up all she had also her family
To bare her soul to every passer by she’d meet
Once I knew the code of this secret army
I found them plain clothes everywhere
Staring right into my soul carefree
Just when nobody else would dare
At break of day our Padre
Awakens and stirs me
Words and phrases exchanged
Ruminating upon this mind
The purveyor of fine intricacies,
Subtleties and non-sensicalities
Steeped in Pathos here relieved
To bathe in bathos
At the wink of an eye upon pillow
We exchange a therapeutic peek-a-boo
With the clouded sun peeping out
Casting light round and round the garden
Count the stars of heaven 