Shrove Tuesday

Pancakes and laughter tossed in the air.
Mummy mixing more - flour everywhere.

Children cheer - pancakes, dinner, dessert.
Sugar rains down lemons squirt.

A table laid, wine and beer.
Family moments we hold so dear.

As the syrup flows in ribbons of gold.
Daddy recalls a story told.
The feast before the fasting phase,
Christ in the desert forty days.

Flip the pan and fill your plate.
Yet pause - Shrove Tuesday contemplate.

The man I was

Bent steel still warm, tight in my hand,
Heart cold - anger blazed, its blurred where I stand.
Demon on my chest, his blood drips from my fingers,
worry whispers, but hatred still lingers.

Out of hell, were not the same,
ash in my breath, got the devil to blame.
One not enough, so in fury I swung,
blade rise and fell 'til no breath my lung.

Turned his head so I plunged his back, he be dead.
I left nothing unsaid.

Sirens crying, still blood on my skin.
War on the street. I know my battles within.

Years of this life without the cross,
I didn't just stab him - but the man I was.


Lines

I tried to read between the lines.
I snorted them. Still half a bottle of red.
The cocaine like the logs - lost to the burner.
I have an impulse to run aimlessly.
But now I must be the earner.

Their forefathers cry to the moon.
Bury them at sea.
I'll fight them for my daughter. Defeat them with my sons.
What more must we see.

They need us we don't want them.
As it bubbles in the channel.
The lion must raw once again.

My wife cry's. Christ, next to her as one.
In sacrifice we heal. We must remain.
We cant be gone.


Six Nations

As winter thors over hallowed grounds
six nations wait on thunder pounds.

In the cold air - an ancient battle call.
In pain or glory - anthems sang loud,
anthems stood tall.

Red and Blue - marching separate toward
the same fight.
Emerald Green or blood stained White.

Flowing through the veins - a stubborn pride.
A broken line, a wounded stride.

Six nations - one burning aim.
The honour to lift - rugby's finest flame.

Saint Valentine

Before the cards, the wine, the flowers.
A courages soul, love has powers.
In Romes dark days the faith is banned.
A Priest stood strong in loves own hand.

In a secret vow of incense flare.
Married as one he did dare.
In prison he prayed, in death he proved.
That Christ is love, love unremoved.

So with every rose and poem we send.
remember our faith, our spirited friend.

In the season of love birds... 

St. Valentine is more than art...
   
A sacrifice, a daring heart.

In a Dark Room

In a dark room breaths breach the silence.
The unseen gathers, the gnashing of violence.

Orisons, just cries in the wilderness?
Fear to gag the wounded soul. Villainous!

I reach for a match and the incense burns.
I invoke the Jesus prayer. Bravery churns.

Incense rising, delivering my prayers to heaven.
Peace returns, no best of seven.

The Suffering of the Saints

Midnight chanting - Tears drying in the dark.
East face fasting - Seeing no morning - No man apart.

Chains now prayer ropes - Not one ask why.
Lord have mercy - No light in the sky.

Not suffering more - Just suffering towards.
With Psalms - Not swords.

Aim is clear - Not peaceful.
Screaming rage through tears pull.

Still suffering towards - No turning away.
Even crawling to death they know Christ - The only way.

Write Alone

The lad, the no income bard.
And love just don't cut it,
when times get hard.

She thanked me for the laughs,
rhymes, and the billet-doux.
But I'm a silk stocking girl,
that needs more than you.

In a silent shrug I understood.

Still had my hair, still a handsome
young blood.

Just one of those times life sends
you back home.
To pick up a pen and write alone.




All Will Realise

This one you won, I'm to blame.
If you think I'm conquered its you,
that's insane.

Just a mere battle, admittedly
you battled well.
I succumbed, I tasted hell.

Do not exult for long.
For this sorry state I'm much
too strong.
Resilient, fought for an age in time.
This aint my first pen, this aint
the first line.

Now in His name, contemplate your
retreat.
I'm in Him. Him you can not defeat.

The conclusion your demise.
no pain, no suffering.

All will realise.