Category: Poetry
One Day in the life of a Fig Tree
I have in my garden, not a fig tree, but an Autumn Olive tree (elaeagnus umbellata) It is a hardy specimen, good for creating wind breaks and a nitrogen fixer so it is a team player in the garden, but perhaps not quite so hardy as the welsh climate requires given that we regularly have…
turning aside
As some of us travelled yesterday to witness a new dawn breaking for the cathedral and for Bro Deiniol in Bangor, what will the spring sunshine bring to Bangor and in Kathy’s Ministry we wonder? I noticed the brightness of the mountains dusted with a little snow and reflected on the first line of a…
The new King – No fixed abode
Well, they asked for an ‘Address’ therefore I gave a ‘simple address,’ but perhaps it was not quite what was expected … The ‘new’ King, No fixed abode. Imagine the itching and scratching of heads, at royal mail head office with that on the desk, or straight to the box marked unfathomable instead? Perhaps though…
dirty hands, grubby faces
I have watched nativity plays, and watched them being filmed and watched the play on the device as it is being filmed and wanted to scream, just watch the … play. Is life now only real when on a screen? There is another world, of that I am convinced. Not a heavenly realm above…
one short moment in winter
Sitting on our bench looking towards Moel Eilio, the sky as dark as ever. A momentary glitch in the programme and the clouds parted to show a little of the sky beyond… Our world seems weary of its winter coat. Clouds part, and blue lies beyond. A soft blue streaked with white cotton as…
Autumn saint autumn sun
An autumn sun for an autumn saint sits low and pale behind the mists of the morning as a million lost causes hang on to tree branches in a final colourful prayer of disobedience. A stray breeze releases them to the ground. Is that a prayer I choose this day? To be released. Or is…
towards the light
We stand and watch what remains of an orange-red glow Slipping gently through a gap between sea and clouds Past the edge of the sea as clouds shift to change its final shape. Our eyes cannot hold its gaze for long. The infectious silence breaks with a sigh as the last ember winks out Which…
Entertaining Angels
Whilst I was writing this for Michaelmas, Chris, a Pilgrim from Poland on his way to Ireland called to ask for hospitality… Timing… ! Entertaining Angels is the title of the 1996 film about Dorothy Day founder of the Catholic worker movement and 1920’s and 1930’s social activist. It can be regarded that what she…
Walking together for Creation Time
The Orthodox Church year begins in September. The first month, until the feast of Francis, patron of all things ecology, is dedicated to creation. It is especially important to remember Creation Time this year as the worlds’ leaders prepare to meet in Paris in November for the 21st attempt to make a universal climate agreement. …
A moment of Christ
Olives. Bread. Everlasting, old. New, creation. Grown. Baked. Plucked down from a tree. Crafted by hands. For a Bitter Sweet moment. Left to mature. Worked into shape. Becoming a moment of life. As a moment of grace – like Christ on the earth. Like all beautiful partnerships; The two do not belong together for long.