Poetry

Dragon-slaying for beginners

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(Audio poem for St George’s day, 23rd April)

Red cross on white, it’s St George’s Day
What, that’s not yet been said, can I say?
Of several nations the proud patron saint
What kind of picture-poem will I here paint?
One thing for starters it seems made him brave:
Faith in the fella who rose from the grave
That surely helped him not faint from the shock
Of facing a Roman executioner’s block
Then there’s the legend: a dragon, breathing fire
Slaying that monster? That’s got to inspire
(It’s not every day a bloke gets out of bed
And takes on a beast, that by close of play’s dead)
Makes me think, little old me, here today
What kind of dragons, am I going to slay?
Above all the noise and furore and din
Of life in the world, I’m looking within
For dragons… That bad thing that haunts me with fear?
Can’t beat God’s presence for bringing peace near
Plagued by some monsters of cruel guilt and shame?
Promise of Jesus: you won’t be the same
Nothing’s as strong as his power to assuage
Demons of anger and envy and rage
When the fierce fire of those dragons is spent
You can rest, you’ll be blessed – at peace, and content

For BBC local radio.

Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay

An ode to mothers

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I really like Mothering Sunday, it’s one of my favourite days
I’m really quite fond of my mother (and almost everything she does or says)

One thing I’m crystal clear sure of, is mother has bundles of heart
She’s caring and kind, on reflection I find, that she’s been that way right from the start

One of the ways my own mother displays, her kindness (I can’t think of better)
Is her skill to compose, with feeling that flows – a beautiful handwritten letter

For some this day’s difficult or poignant, your feelings perhaps may be raw
A special hug may be in order – what friends and dear loved ones are for

It may be a surprise to discover, in the bible, an unusual thing
God is compared to a mother, protecting her chicks with her wings

So on this Mothering Sunday, whether you feel joyful, or blue
Show love to the ‘mothers’ in your life; and let God show his kindness to you

Broadcast on BBC Radio Leeds, Guernsey & Jersey

Image by Vânia Raposo from Pixabay

Red carpet reflections

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Tell me, did you see the Oscars, did anyone stay up all night
Not something I could accomplish (next day I’d look quite a fright)
Did anything grab your attention, make you sit up just a bit?
Last year’s was hard to compete with; no one saw red or got hit

One thing that made it distinguished, helped it stand out from the pack
Was women being better rewarded, the status quo starting to crack
Another thing worthy of comment, that lifted the star-studded night
Was seeing the roll call of winners, not so ubiquitously white

‘Everything everywhere’, the multiverse one, scooped up the best picture gong
Seems to be saying, beside all its thrills, all’s not lost when it’s all going wrong
You might have some skills quite undreamed of, waiting to see light of day
A message to lift and inspire you, and drive all those self-doubts away

The thing that it prompts me to wonder, the thing that it moves me to say
Is what if you’re not an A-lister, partying it up in LA?
If you’re a Joe or Jill Average, juggling five kids on the go
What can you take from the musings, of Tinseltown darling Ms Yeoh?

There’s a small piece of overlooked wisdom, a nugget that always surprises
This: in another kingdom, heaven, is a whole different order of prizes
You might be a cook or a cleaner, maybe none know your name or your face
What’s valued right there isn’t stardust; just ordinary lives, shaped by grace

Image by Tom from Pixabay

Messiah musings

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The news I heard was guaranteed
To thrill and to inspire
Bradford’s choral outfit
Singing Handel’s great ‘Messiah’

Each Wednesday night, I walked through rain
Autumnal chill and dark
To master quavers, trills and scales
And warble like a lark

Through crotchet clusters, nests of notes
I wandered like a maze
But practised hard, so by the night
I’d warble quite unfazed

I love the light and airy parts
Those trills that flutter high
‘His yoke is easy, burden light’
‘And he shall purify’

On the evening, wide the doors
Flung open, what a night
The choir rang out, the solos soared
The music bubbled bright

A choir in full and hearty voice
Is like a bird in flight;
A joy to sing a work so filled
With grace and power and light

Image: Bradford Festival Choral Society performing ‘Messiah’, 19th November 2022

Audio:

Rethinking Remembrance

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We may find a multitude of ways to remember
Sacrifices made, this day each November
And whether we wear poppy red, poppy white
In the square, in a churchyard, in the soft autumn light
Or at home, or even if we don’t mark it at all
Conflicts, some present, exert still a call
On our minds and our hearts to give pause and reflection
Consider, is there some substantial connection
Between those who struggle, and our more comfortable lives
Far from child soldiers under African skies
Or those in Ukraine, or Iran, where they fight
Against varying tyrannical forms, out of sight…
When part of you hurts, the whole body feels pain
It’s how we should be, when one person is maimed
So let us be conscious, seek out and discern
Where conflict is happening, to direct our concern
And find out the cause – resources, or land –
Which ignited the flame, let it get out of hand
Put ourselves in their shoes, empathise, and yeah, pray
Take some action perhaps – and though it doesn’t go away
We can lift up the hurting, joining hands, joining hearts
And imagine a future – where war finally departs

Image by Annette Jones from Pixabay

For BBC local, and community radio

A fair COP?

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It might not have slipped your attention or sight:
The COP conference – straight after Bonfire Night
The occasion of gunpowder, treason and plot
Coincides with a push – to stop Earth getting hot
The gig is in Egypt (famously dry
Like the powder lined up to blow Parliament high)
But while these events enjoy similar fame
I don’t for one moment pretend they’re the same
While Guy and his gang tried a massive explosion
The Earth’s plight is more like a drawn out implosion
And though we light fireworks to remember Guy Fawkes
It’s less likely COP will see popping of corks
Let’s hope the steps there are not sticking plaster
It’d be nice if we stave off a slow burn disaster

Image by David Garry from Pixabay

‘Stranger Things’ soliloquy

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On my phone just lately, among the clicks and pings
Something strange was happening, tied to ‘Stranger Things’
If like me you’ve missed it, it’s a Netflix show
Which resurrects an eighties hit, and half the world’s gone “Oh…
This song is rather good”, and if you’re puzzled still
The track that I’m referring to, is ‘Running up that hill’
The work of one elusive Mrs Bush, that’s her, it’s Kate
If you don’t know her songs yet, well, it’s ‘better late…’
In a scene from Stranger Things, a teenager called Max
Is levitating, eyes all funny, having bad attacks
I won’t go into detail; it’s out there, all online
Suffice to say that Max is stressed, depressed and far from fine
Oppressed by troubling thoughts, and Venca’s foul embrace
A bad un, who won’t give Max, a lot of free head space
Her friends dig out her favourite song, this striking eighties hit
And basically it saves her, that’s the gist, that’s it
It gets me thinking, what oppresses us, and me, and then
What do we, and I, turn to, to make us whole again?
If a piece of music helps life run a smoother course
What if I could tap into a deeper, richer Source?

Image by Enrique Meseguer from Pixabay

Toxic 3 – Hope

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Something that doesn’t quite fill me with mirth –
Thinking a moment about the future of earth –
Is, how will we come to a place where we care
About something so far off, remote, over there?
We hear about it, but how we can be troubled by heating
The global kind, when impacts here are so fleeting?
I wonder, if we’re to move past a short-sighted view
Do we need to look deeper at ourselves a bit too
We could do with regaining a perspective quite rare
A fuller and richer vision of care
We’d do worse than recover some wisdom of old
To move from being small to big-hearted and bold
We might even shift from the selfish rat race
To relate more, and move in the rhythms of grace
What if behind everything there’s a power
Of love and of good, which we need in this hour
If we’re made in the image of God, that gives scope
To move forward determined, with courage and hope
To give up addictions and foul toxic ways
Pursue a strong future for all, for always

Broadcast on Premier Christian Radio