Trade Winds

Trade winds with no sails to play in.
Tides rising and falling with no hulls for lifting. 
The beach tractors still. 
No boats to pull, their owners at home longing,
For salty sea, sunshine and splashing.  

The roads half empty, the bins half full.
Our beaches swept clean their true beauty seen,
By three walking or maybe just two. 
Our visitors missing. Empty sea stretching, boat free, clear and sparkling. 

Small shop fronts closed with no tills ringing. 
Summer friends still town-bound
Dreaming, of screeching gulls and fish and chips. 
Along the front, shoulders pink.
Toes sandy, and ice-cream dripping. 

Our summer days are fast approaching. 
And we have no way of knowing. 
Will they be as they’ve always been?
With campsites bursting,
And the sun lotion flowing. 
Or heat hazed and dazed, 
the empty space so surprising. 

And then the winter, with cold winds blowing. 
Belts so tight, too tight for breathing.  
But don’t worry there’ll always be neighbours knocking. 
And we know how to stand the storm’s battering. 
Because under sea, salt, and stone, 
Local heats don’t stop beating. 

The Grand Design

 

We’re all important, every one. 
Each life fits in this grand design.  
The perfect place, cut to shape. 
Engineered for you alone. 

But so often we feel like we’re left in the box. 
The screw or bracket that didn’t quite fit. 
Neither use nor ornament in the great scheme of things. 
Ashamed we didn’t make the grade. 

But all the while we miss the truth. 
Don’t spot the diamond in the rough. 
Our minds somehow distort the facts;
And hide the light that shines from us. 

And now we’ve had this great reset,
Of everything we thought we knew. 
The time to really have a look.  
And find out who we truly are. 

What have you found while your shield’s been down?
In this time you’ve spent backstage, off screen?
I hope you’ve been kind to yourself as you’ve looked. 
I hope you’ve seen what’s real and what’s not. 

This time to think has helped me see, 
That the puzzle’s bigger than I knew. 
That each and every one of us,
completes the picture every day. 

So on the days when I feel too small,
Like I should be something that I’m not. 
I’m learning to trust in what I can’t quite see. 
That my light, like yours, lights this world for us all. 

Tired

I’m tired. Are you too?
Tired of imagining a future that I can’t quite see.
Hopes and dreams disappeared in the mist.
An uncharted course, stretching on and on.
No horizon ahead, and no fixed point.
No safe harbour in sight to dock for the night. 

We’re on a journey to a destination unknown.
I feel wobbly. Do you?
Full of questions and fears.
What will have changed?
And how much?
Who will be there, and who might not?
And will I have the strength to bear that loss?

Can we stop this second guessing – just give it up?
No more rounds in the fight to know what we can’t.
Stay down for the bell and just deal with right now.
And leave tomorrow in hands that are greater than ours?

Faith tells us this is the way we must live.
That God will provide what we need for each day.
That if we trust and hope and work for good.
We won’t need to know what tomorrow will bring.
And we can rest in a peace that we don’t understand.

I can’t always manage to surrender like this.
I suspect it may be the same for you too?
And we’re longing for a world that’s fair, good and just.
And we’re so tired of carrying the weight of that hope.
And how it will be, we really don’t know. 

But there’s someone I trust, who I’ve met on the way.
When I’m weary and burdened,
And I’ve lost the fight.
He is humble and gentle and we can learn from him.
For He holds all our tomorrows,
And his hands they are light. 

Summer Brown

I’ve a deep tan from being out in the sun.
My garden looks the best it ever has.
No I don’t live in a flat or a cramped city home.
And my summer brown won’t cause people to hate who I am. 

I’ve said in my poems that we’re in the same boat.
But I know in my heart that it’s not the truth.
My boat is not a refugee raft.
And my garden is bigger than I really need. 

Jesus said, ‘Give away all that you have.’
I’m not sure I can say that I know what he meant.
Perhaps I can acknowledge it’s here only as gift.
And hold it all in an open hand.

I can’t give away where I was born.
The privilege that’s mine and the skin that I’m in.
But I can bear witness to the gains that it brings,
Not take them for granted or pretend they’re not here. 

And how can I help those who don’t live like me?
When I feel so confused, guilty and small.
When I have no real reference for lives not like mine.
It’s shocking, it’s honest and I can’t say it’s not true. 

Of course I can give my money and time.
To people, and the causes that arise from their need.
I can like and share and comment and shout.
But the ocean’s so big and that feels like a drop. 

Perhaps out of love I can be determined to learn.
And trade my hate for the way it is now,
To a steady resolve and desire for change.
For a world that is just, merciful and fair.

I can teach my grandchildren and so teach myself.
To face the truth of all that we see.
To do just what we can and do it well.
To build a new world that is better for all.

Coming Up For Air

Coming up for air.
But is it safe to breathe?
The messages so mixed.
And feelings running high.

Those in power will try,
And some will say they failed.
But wouldn’t walk a yard,
In any of their shoes.

When will we hug again?
Or even just shake hands?
Sit with the ones we love?
Share their sorrows and their joys?

Or meet up down the pub?
Or kick a ball around the park?
Go shopping with the girls,
Or have a brew and chat?

Or kneel beside our friends,
And share God’s cup of love?
Join in the holy space,
Wherever we find God?

We all miss different things,
But there is common thread.
We long to be together.
To share the lives we live.

I know we’ll find a way.
But it’s going to take some time.
Our world won’t be the same.
But we will meet again.

This time it isn’t war.
This time our goal is shared.
And the love in us won’t rest,
Until we breathe together again.

Image credit NOAA

How Can We Smile?

How can we smile,
As we watch the sun rise?
As reality darkens our hearts.
As we feel the weight of the knowledge of this.
The straps cutting in over time. 

The disbelief calcified into facts.
The numbers getting higher each day.
We can’t ignore, or play down the fear,
That there’s no real way out of this mess. 

We’ve been keeping calm and carrying on.
With clapping hands and home baked loaves.
Giving and sharing and doing all we can.
Staying home and watching the news. 

But right now as the ground shifts under our feet.
The rug of the future pulled out.
It’s hard to hold our spirits up high,
With aching arms and no end in sight. 

But the sun is still rising every day.
Undeniably bright, bringing life.
And love is still beating in our pulse and our blood,
Whether we want to believe it or not.
And flowers are blooming and spring is still here even when we’re to tired to see.

Beauty and tragedy still walk hand in hand.
And we mustn’t deny either one.
There’s a time for everything, it’s been said.
And the good and the bad still pass by.

So some days we’ll feel low and that’s not a crime.
And we’re still allowed to feel joy.
And to live and breathe in the middle of these.
Is to move and have our being in God. 

Why?

Why? That small word.
But the question so big.
On all of our lips.
So hard not to ask.
To shout into the dark.
To the God that we trust.
Or feel like we can’t.
In the long night hours.    

If you gave an answer,
Would we say,
‘Oh well then.
Never mind.
That’s just fine.
We’ll pick up and move on.
And turn a blind eye to the sorrow
We see, in hearts full of loss.

No. That’s not what we say.
Whilst our hearts still ache.
While we can’t understand what’s happening to us.
So we ask and we ask.
And no answer comes.
Could your silence, be an invitation?
For us to ask a better question.

Who can I help?
Where is there need?
What can I give that I hold in my hands?
What skill do I have that could help others right now?
How can I use my time in ways that will help?

These questions you answer.
Again and again.
With new ideas and new strength,
Chance meetings and small thoughts.
Abundant provision of all that we need,
When there is a longing to give all that we have.
And time stretched beyond the hours in a day.

So can we dare to believe
That there’s no answer to ‘Why’.
Because you don’t just cause good and bad on a whim.
In this world we will have trouble.
But it can be overcome.
Because there are miracles waiting inside everyone.

Grace Comes Strangely

Grace comes strangely.
As we share this same pain.
Darkness the backdrop for a greater light.
A night sky for a million stars to shine.

Small acts of kindness littered about.
Heroes abound, so obvious now.
But didn’t they always hold up our lives?
Why didn’t we see them like this yesterday?

This threat has turned things upside down.
But were they ever the right way up?
Where we placed value seems ridiculous now.
Are we finally seeing how blind we have been?

Compassion is blowing in on the breeze.
Generous hearts have wiped the the slates clean.
We all want to wrap our arms around the world.
In an embrace of love, tenderness and care.

Anger and hate stick out like sore thumbs.
They don’t fit anymore,
Haven’t found their place yet.
We’re still tender, in shock,
Goodwill our safe ground.

Love has become a verb once again.
Practiced, not preached, as we reach out and respond.
As we work together and try to survive,
For the common good, all greed left behind.

My prayer is that this love endures.
That the ones we are losing won’t have died in vain.
That as we grieve their loss we come to see,
That grace we need is in our hearts and hands.

Hands Clean But Hearts Breaking

We’re Together apart.
Our Hands clean but hearts breaking.
This enemy lurks in the air we all breathe.
Across countries and continents, oceans and seas.
We’re a family now like never before.
United in love all differences gone.
As we face this new foe that has levelled us all.

What now of class distinctions, racism and hate.
Of hoarding money and chasing fame.
All attempts to impress seem so petty and small.
And the ‘other’ is now brother, sister and friend.
Together we grieve and try to stay brave.
Together we smile in the face of it all.

Look for the helpers a wise man once said.
When all seems lost you’ll see them step up.
The doctors and nurses, all hospital staff.
The carers still tending to others in need.
Shop workers our heroes, deliverers so brave.
What honour they deserve for their service to us.
For the risks they are taking so our lives can go on.

And the planet is breathing once more they now say.
Nature returns as we take a step back.
Pollution on hold as we self isolate.
Will we change in the light of this new spring we see?
Can we learn from this? The way we live now.
And step with more care in the new future we make?

Can hope still burn brightly?
I believe that it can.
Even though the darkness and shadows increase.
We have to hold on to and trust in love,
We know it exists in the core of us all.
It’s the image we’re made in.
It’s why we’re all here.
And it’s evident now as our hearts beat as one.

Image credit- Moyo Studio / Getty Images)

I Have Only Words

Forgive me Lord, for I have only words.
They fall from my lips like dead leaves,
From the tree of life that grows tall in my heart.
Roots deeply entwined in the ground of your love.

I ache to express what mere words cannot say.
The wonder and joy of this life that I live.
The mystery of love, of goodness and grace.
As I contemplate you, the one I can’t see.

Many words have been written, spoken and sung.
Many prayers offered up from hearts full of faith.
Whatever the language, place, building or creed.
You hear them all with a Father’s heart.

But acts of kindness and selflessness speak for themselves.
Perhaps this the the way I can show you my love.
The way I can thank you for all that I have.
The way I can say what cannot be said.

So this is my prayer.
The song of my soul.
That you put me in front of the ones I can help.
That you open my eyes and my heart to their need.
And help me to act when words aren’t
enough.

 

Photo credit Paul Viant via Getty Images