Sonnet

God does not have favourites.
But anyone of any nationality is acceptable to Him.
Love is the wind of dancing kites.
It flows from Him, to us, and to others according to His whim.

I dreamt last night I was in Poland in the war.
Witnessing in vivid detail untold brutality.
It clearly brought home the evil that we must not ignore.
Of a bullying cruel fascistic mentality.

You have to love one another.
Love has an eternal source.
Because binding us all in spiritual tether.
Love has only an ever onward course.

So last night before I put down that book on Poland’s history.
I was being taken along the path of sublime mystery.

Haiku

Love one another
Easy to say hard to do
But it is the truth

Sonnet

Almighty God who through baptism.
Has been pleased to confer on us eternal life.
Truly this is our charism.
One day we will be free from strife.

But what of Monti.
Will his soul live on.
He loves, he can see.
And he is loved, will he see the dawn.

He does not belong to our world.
Yet no one hates him.
He just lies happy curled.
And he isn’t so dim.

But anyway he is surely in heaven already.
He lives entirely in the present, no regrets or fears, just steady.

Haiku

You are in heaven
If you live in the present
No regrets or fears

Sonnet

Love one another.
As I have loved you.
It’s all such a bother.
It really is too.

I was trying to pray, amen.
Nothing, then in my mind I just thought.
Of St Joseph and one of my children.
I saw them together, then I was caught.

There’s no need for words, too.
I felt a communication.
I was being talked to anew.
Here was inspiration.

You don’t have to do, it’s really very simple.
You don’t have to set an example.

Haiku

You don’t need these words
You just need an open heart
Then there is echo

Sonnet

God so kindled the fire of charity in St George.
That he bore witness to the risen Lord.
Riding through the gorge.
He slew the dragon with lance and sword.

Christ is Risen, Воистину Воскрес! He is risen indeed.
Was the cry we heard in the Russian church today.
Христос воскресе. He is risen indeed.
Is there anymore we need say.

We know so little about Saint George save he was martyred.
Much is legend including the dragon.
But that is is faith, little is chartered.
Truth is halved then quartered.

But what the matter at the finish.
He is the patron saint of the English.

Haiku

Christ is risen now
He is risen indeed now
What else matters now

Sonnet

As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself.
Neither can you unless you remain in me.
We fear being left un-watered on the greenhouse shelf.
Ignored even by the searching worker bee.

Why are my dreams so lonely and sad.
Is it because I forget to pray at night.
We really aren’t that alone or so bad.
We are just to frail and prone to fright.

If only I could remember I am part of the vine.
I am a branch on a healthy plant.
Look for the multicoloured sign.
It is there, beautiful, ignore the can’t.

We will never be cut away and thrown into the fire.
For lifting us from the mire , he plays us gently on his lyre.

Haiku

Never cut away
We remain in the true vine
Not thrown in the fire

Sonnet

Let your face shine upon your servant.
You hide them in the shelter of your presence.
Is life reserved for the observant.
How do we come into your omnipresence.

What happens to the soul after death.
Are these near death experiences proof.
What happens in the hours after our last breath.
Away from our body does our soul see, hear and stand aloof.

I doubt all these experiences, are they truly undeniable.
They all seem to talk of earthly beauties and cities.
Surely heaven is infinite, indescribable.
Utterly separate from earth’s cares and duties.

I prefer to put my trust in one who was dead for three days.
Then many witnesses testified he was alive, as bright as the sun’s rays.

Haiku

The soul after death
Does it live on conscious
We know there was one who did

Sonnet

Lord let us see the Father.
And then we shall be satisfied.
We always demand to see further.
We suspect someone has lied.

He has been here all this time.
And we still do not know Him.
We do not recognise the sublime.
He is here and He is his limb.

If we ask for anything in His name.
He will do it.
This is truth and no mere claim.
We only have to ask for His permit.

But we’re like Philip, as he did so doubtfully say.
We don’t recognise the truth, the life and the way.

Haiku

If only we knew
The way, the truth, and the life
But the truth is there

Sonnet

Every branch in me that bears no fruit.
He cuts away.
He discards it if there is no fruit.
But all our worries He thus does lay.

My old apple tree sprouts in summer.
Too seldom do I prune it.
Few are its fruit before winter.
And they are not by sweetness lit.

But there is the great vine at Hampton Court.
Over 250 years old.
Time is in its passing wrought.
Its story many times told.

We must prune and give.
And not keep if we are to live.

Haiku

Prune the tree often
If it is to give some fruit
By cutting we give

Sonnet

Proclaim the mighty works of him.
Who called you into his wonderful light.
The child sits just beyond the candle light’s rim.
But clearly in our sight.

This is a picture of the dignity of the worker.
Entitled to fair treatment.
True work is not for the materialist shirker.
For it is a part of God’s work defying mistreatment.

The worker is lit by light.
He must not be oppressed.
For the same light illumines the night.
And bathes in gentle white and yellow the blessed.

We see the light through his hands.
And we know where truth stands.

Haiku

Light behind the hands
Illumines them in fair glow
Like all the true light

Sonnet

Do not let your hearts be troubled.
Trust in God still and trust in me.
Can our hopes and fears be stilled.
Can we our fate see.

We are always so restless.
When young worrying about the future.
When old regretting life’s mess.
Always resentment is the lure.

Left to our own we are never happy.
No toy of our delight can last.
We wander trying every new fancy.
We make an endless cast.

But there is one who has many a room opening.
In his restful mansion welcoming.

Haiku

There are many rooms
In his father’s mansion
Always welcoming

Sonnet

If we say we have no sin in us.
We are deceiving ourselves.
Self awareness is something about which we should make a fuss.
We are not honest about ourselves only themselves.

I bless you Lord from hiding these things from the learned and the clever.
And revealing them to mere children.
Catherine of Siena’s words live for ever.
Her burning heart of love could not be hidden.

Yet she only learned to write in her last three years.
And now she is one of the churches doctors.
Her dictated writings brush away our tears.
She resolved the churches schism better than any lawyers.

We wish we had true simplicity.
We might then have more felicity.

Haiku

True simplicity
Brings much more felicity
We wish we had it

Sonnet

I the light have come into the world.
So that whoever believes in me may not stay in the dark anymore.
I was in a dreamworld.
Perhaps here and there a little snore.

Against trouble, I was asking for an intercession.
And by chance I turned to St Alphege’s interception.
Dead for a thousand years, could I ask him the question.
Strangely I felt a reception.

I felt I was being listened to.
And there was an atmosphere of contentment.
Maybe it was just a dream too.
But maybe here was some kind of presentment.

You never know when to a saint you pray.
What if anything they will say.

Haiku

You pray to a saint
You may not know they hear
There is an echo

Sonnet

On the holy mountain.
Is His city cherished by the Lord.
This is hope’s flowing fountain.
To which we inch painfully toward.

He had told us, despite our unfitness.
But we did not believe.
Are not His works witness.
In acceptance we will receive.

If we were His sheep.
We would listen to His voice.
He knows us, His reward to keep.
But do we know Him, we cannot rejoic.

If only we understood.
He is eternal life, the greatest force for good.

Haiku

If we understood
He is the true eternal life
And the force for good

Sonnet

I am the gate of the sheepfold
Anyone who enters through me will be safe.
The truth is as it is told.
Following him we need not chafe.

I was in the village church, alone.
Suddenly I felt a presence.
I was not alone.
I cannot explain this sense.

But I felt contentment.
As if watched by the loyal shepherd.
Dispelled was all resentment.
It was as if my fears were heard.

We do not know the path to avoid mortality’s fate.
But surely it is through his gate.

Haiku

We do not know yet
How to end mortality
Except through his gate

Sonnet

This is the stone rejected by you the builders.
But which has proved to be the cornerstone.
We all feel rejected at times, we are no pillars.
But somewhere within all of us is one small worn useful stone.

Our lives may be one of deepest obscurity.
Our value may not be revealed.
We may be despised and have no security.
Yet our hope in him is forever sealed.

We are wandering sheep.
Our life short and lonely.
But the shepherd awaits to hold us in his kindly keep.
He will always come to our aid all and one and only.

We think we are secure in our individuality but Christianos.
Hope lies in spirituality, alter Christos.

Haiku

Individual
Or hoping in the shepherd
That is our true choice

Sonnet

It is the spirit that gives life and freedom from care
The flesh is of no avail.
But how often is the spirit in a spond of despair.
We walk sometimes in a depressed shadowed vale.

But there is a loving spirit, a holy salve.
We feel it on a wind from our parents, a mere essence.
They are beyond beyond the grave.
But we feel their presence.

Sorrows and death may encompass our space.
But we can always make a prayer.
And our soul can travel to a better place.
A place where no ills can wander.

It is not certainty that is required.
Just an honest attempt made and inquired.

Haiku

The loving spirit
By generation passed
It does liveth on

Sonnet

I read that through faith we are judged righteous.
Since it is by faith that we have entered this state of grace.
And so I ask what then of being meritorious.
What of doubt’s ever nagging trace.

Intellectually I struggle with faith’s happy grace.
Rationally I fear I am a passing speck in an unconscious universe.
But I was thinking this sitting alone in the vast cathedral space.
Unable with prayer or God or happiness to converse.

Then high up a ray of light pierced the window.
Blinding me for an instant, intently.
What calm joy and fears laid low.
A peace enveloping, gently reverently.

Such is the call, it cannot be analysed.
Or indeed in any way surmised.

Haiku

Light, such is the call
It cannot be analysed
Or indeed surmised

Haiku for Saint George

Christopher is the
Saint of Christmas and George is
The saint of Easter

Sonnet

It is written in the prophets.
They will all be taught by God.
Sound the glorious trumpets.
Let the chariots horses be shod.

Philip met the Ethiopian on the road.
As he read Isaiah in his chariot.
Soon his head in baptism was bowed.
And forewarned of the fate of Judas Iscariot.

Why do we spend so much thinking about number one.
And too little about others save in resentment.
And even less about the one.
But we know that to help others is the only road to contentment.

Perhaps one day I might meet a Philip on the road.
And appreciate how much he is owed.

Haiku

Philip on the road
Explains Isaiah to us
He is always there

Sonnet

He says I am the Bread of Life.
He who comes to me will never be hungry.
Yes we search for an end to strife.
That is something on which we can all agree.

But is there really a way to end all desiring.
How can we be sure we will never thirst for anything again.
Can we banish with just our own self will all wanting.
How do we break desire’s heavy chain.

I do not believe we can do it on our own.
We need someone’s help.
We are never all alone.
He is waiting to help.

But in our pride we never quite accept this.
We are determined to reject bliss.

Haiku

He is there to help
We want to do it alone
We then reject bliss

Sonnet

The witnesses put down their clothes.
At the feet of a young man named Saul.
During the mass I fell gently into a doze.
The words a distant gentle drawl.

At the death of Stephen I woke up.
He asked for the Lord to forgive his enemies.
And he then fell asleep and gave his spirit up.
His words seemed to ring down the centuries.

There is an intensity of insight sometimes.
Especially when the senses are relaxed on waking.
I seemed to be there witnessing these crimes.
The scene inspiring and heart breaking.

For Saul’s approving attention.
Led to his redemption.

Haiku

Saul’s attention
Led to his redemption
And will it for me

Sonnet

After Jesus had fed the five thousand.
His disciples saw him walking on the water.
They saw, made their vows and
Put their doubts to the slaughter.

But we who have not seen still doubt.
Our faces will not shine like an angel.
We are not called to martyrdom like St Alphege Often in faith we encounter drought.
But we can still make our pledge.

Do we follow our dreams over the lake.
Because we hope for more bread.
Or because we are doing it for his sake.
And because in hope we look ahead.

From the distant past we listen to his word,
Amplified over water, our faith stirred.

Haiku

Over the water
Sound is greatly amplified
Thus we hear his word

Sonnet

Look at the rainbow and praise its maker.
It shines with supreme beauty, rounding the sky with its gleaming arc.
Light glitters on the running water.
Song rings out from the rising lark.

The warm sun melts the white snow.
Nature springs forth in glorious abundance.
From north then from the warming south does the wind blow.
All arises in God given romance.

But what bends the light and sends the river on its course.
Do we move only by the laws of physics and gravity.
And what is the ultimate source.
From what and who do we return, is there eternity.

Surely everything has a mover.
It is he, in him time is never over.

Haiku

All had a mover
All time is never over
Is eternity

Sonnet

Set aside O Lord the bonds of sentence written for us by sin.
Which in the paschal mystery you cancelled.
There is an immortal crown to win.
We can all don, whatever our life, a glorious mantle.

The Church need not concern itself with any part of our reality.
It can inspire us with the joys of spirituality.
Whatever our life, we are all part of the same community.
Nor do we ever again need to fear mortality.

We may never in this life walk on water.
But deep in our hearts we surely can.
We can put fear and anger to a gentle slaughter.
Even now he is walking towards every man and woman.

Even now he is holding out his hand, he is the link.
If we grasp it we will never sink.

Haiku

He holds out his hand
We will not sink in the lake
If we grasp it now

Sonnet

There is a boy here with five barley loaves and two fish.
But what is that between so many.
We are always seeking in life for a new exciting dish.
We always see denial and scarcity in the midst of actual plenty.

Yesterday I sat by a chalk stream day dreaming.
Bubbling, flowing and caressed by light.
What is it about a stream that is so calming.
It always is in motion but never changes in our sight.

And then this morning I stood outside at the first light of dawn.
There was a cacophony of bird song.
Silence, a distant rumble of a plane and a car and then gone.
The frost on the ground, grey light, far from the sounding throng.

If we trust to those few scraps of bread promised.
And stay in the present, all will be well as sung by the psalmist.

Haiku

A few scraps of bread
That was enough for many
Trust in the future

Sonnet

He who comes from heaven bears witness.
To the things he has seen and heard.
But what of us earthly things are we any less.
Coming from earth perhaps we are good just to hear the word.

But we can at least accept his testimony.
And attest his truthfulness.
We may be inadequate, fearful and lonely.
But in some small way we are part of his oneness.

We can though taste and see.
That the Lord is good.
It is as if we travel in a rough sea.
But in the end we find everything is to the good.

But I wonder if we truly believe that believing, we will see eternity.
One thing is certain if we don’t, we are rejecting immortality.

Haiku

If we do believe
Will we have eternal life
If not we will not