A poem sent by dear Ruth, my Scottish friend ,in County Clare.

Christmas 2013

When the night is darkest and cold, 

May a bright star reveal itself to you.

May the star descend to Earth and

May it touch the place in you that fears, or shrinks in shame.

May it remind you of your own star nature. 

May you open your hands, your heart, to welcome it in.

May the star of love and hope be born anew within you and

May it shine in your thinking, words and actions in the year to come.

Ruth Marshall's Christmas poem.

Wild Geese ( sent to me by Anne)

You do not have to be good
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert,repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.
Tell me about despair,yours,and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese,high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are ,no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese,harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

Mary Oliver.

First and Foremost--a poem a friend sent me for my 65th birthday!

My dear friend Anne sent this poem to me in an email,on my birthday,and said the book was in the post, when it arrived "Red Cherry Red by Jackie Kay I see there is also a verse called ,my bad points...she was kind enough to leave that out. I will of course publish this too.....in time....


My good points:
I am fresh, novel,
the genuine article.
I am unprecedented.
From the word go,
a healthy ego;
I'm incomparable,
bold and original.
Never backwards
in coming forwards.
Never put off for tomorrow
what I can do today.I rise at dawn
with the cockerel.
I reap the fruits.
I put my good foot first.
I also first foot.
I am phenomenal,
first among equals.
I took the first step.
I made the first move.
I always stand up to be counted.
I don't run away from the truth.
I get things first
hand; I come straight
to the point.
"Hold on, hold on,"
I say "First things first"
To sum up:
I'm quite exceptional.

Poem ( again maybe)

Bittersweet moment on a Paris street.

He : "Excuse Madame"

She: "I am sorry I don't speak French"

He: "My English is very bad"

She "My French too"

He: "Have you got a cigarette"?

She: " I am sorry,I don't smoke"

He: "No problem,au revoir Madame"

And the young man walked away.leaving the the older woman with an acute sense of loss.

May 2004 ,Paris, Helen Collins

John's writing at Marie Curie 11/9/2013

Porridge has sugar in it
11September 2031

as I sought to date this napkin-to
give it a gravitas the text seemed to lack.
The tears started
behind my eyes. Is porridge
truly such a matter!

John Lightbody, Marie Curie ,Stanley Ward, 11th September 2013

Bizet's

Birth of April seems to beckon
like( Charcoal Firing)
on a misty morning

The City is silent.

Poems for Liz and Phil's wedding.

Beannacht / A Blessing by John O'Donohue On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you. And when your eyes freeze behind the grey window and the ghost of loss gets in to you, may a flock of colours, indigo, red, green, and azure blue come to awaken in you a meadow of delight. When the canvas frays in the currach of thought and a stain of ocean blackens beneath you, may there come across the waters a path of yellow moonlight to bring you safely home. May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours. And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you, an invisible cloak to mind your life.     John Denver Perhaps love is like a resting place A shelter from the storm It exists to give you comfort It is there to keep you warm And in those times of trouble When you are most alone The memory of love will bring you home Perhaps love is like a window Perhaps an open door It invites you to come closer It wants to show you more And even if you lose yourself And don't know what to do The memory of love will see you through Love to some is like a cloud To some as strong as steel For some a way of living For some a way to feel And some say love is holding on And some say letting go And some say love is everything And some say they don't know Perhaps love is like the ocean Full of conflict, full of pain Like a fire when it's cold outside Thunder when it rains If I should live forever And all my dreams come true My memories of love will be of you

A shelter from the storm
It exists to give you comfort
It is there to keep you warm
And in those times of trouble
When you are most alone
The memory of love will bring you home


Perhaps love is like a window
Perhaps an open door
It invites you to come closer
It wants to show you more
And even if you lose yourself
And don't know what to do
The memory of love will see you through


Oh, Love to some is like a cloud
To some as strong as steel


For some a way of living
For some a way to feel


And some say love is holding on
And some say letting go
And some say love is everything
And some say they don't know


Perhaps love is like the ocean
Full of conflict, full of pain
Like a fire when it's cold outside
Thunder when it rains
If I should live forever
And all my dreams come true
My memories of love will be of you
 

Rumi!

The Guest House

This being human is a guest house
Every Morning a new arrival

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor

Welcome and entertain them all
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows
Who violently sweep your house
Of its furniture,
Still, treat each guest honourably
He may be clearing you out
For some new delight

The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
Meet them at the door laughing,
And invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes,
Because each has been sent
As a guide from beyond

Rumi

 Brian's facebook. 30/6/2013

assessing your self on the journey.

Answer the questions,respond to the statements.

How good am I at ...



Accepting self and others

Attention to process not goals

Believing in self and others

Better relationships

Confidence

courage

Decreasing attention to the unsuccessful events in life ,full attention on achievements.


Departing from old habits, beliefs,behaviour.

Encouraging self and others to focus on the profits rather than the losses.


F I am adaptable and able to be true to myself..I can dance to the music.

Give up..this is me !

Growing with family,work,friends,community.

Birds

1 a wagtail,black and white in a green apple tree.
Two pairs of blackbirds out in the rain.
A thrush on a tree branch in the drive.
A wild duck coming out of the big puddle by the road where the tree blew down
A sandpiper calling up high
Pheasants
A partridge
A blue tit at the new nesting box
A bullfinch among the snowdrops
A robin who does not live here
Gulls on the field
Peewit ditto
Two snipe flying with long darning needle bills
A woodpecker drilling in the wood above the road
Two field fares with blue heads I think
Wood pigeons observed by the ruined doo'cote
Crows flying.

all singing and making a great to do,for its spring whatever the calender says.

Perth 1993
A poem for Helen

John.

Freedom

We must always cherish the past..the dead!

people can survive catastrophe ,we now have to re-discover in ourselves and in our children those civilised qualities,feelings ,ideas and convictions that have been too long subdued repressed and distorted,
this will only happen if every individual takes it upon him/herself to think what it means to try to be free,
it is difficult  and necessary.
I think we can do it.

Four powers of the magus

1. To Know -
 this is the voice of your inner wisdom, it is a knowledge that cannot be learned ,like school,it has to be lived or experienced.


2. To Dare - Audacity is a good thing, combined with the other powers.

Think, or make a list of reasons why you want to do a particular spell. Have you tried every mundane way of getting the particular goal you have? Do you really need to do the spell? If you answered "Yes" to all of that, then it's time to craft your spell. If you have any doubts or apprehension, it will wreck the spell, so don't bother until you know exactly why you're going to do your spell. Be crystal clear in your own mind why you know a spell will achieve the result you require. Using your visualization skills, picture exactly what you want the outcome to be.



3. To Will - this is what keeps you on the path fending off the thousands and one distractions that can take you away from it.
 


4. To Keep Silent -remain silent until the magic is done? To reveal your magic before it is done, dissipates it’s power and effectiveness.

quotes n stuff (5)

Imagination is more important that knowledge---Albert Einstein.

You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this life-Lucille ball!


It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare,it is because we do not dare, things are difficult.

MONEY IS God in action-Raymond Charles Barker.

The more we learn to operate in the world
based on trust in our intuition
the stronger our channel will be
and the more money we will have.  Shakti Gawain


Money will come when you are doing the right things. Mike Philips.


Always leave enough time in your life
to do something that makes you happy,
satisfied,and even joyous.
That has more effect on economic well being than any other single factor. Paul Hawker.

I value myself enough
to realise that my personal morality is a bench
that demands to be followed. anon

expectations are like girdles,
we probably should have discarded them years ago. anon

God made time and he made plenty of it!

When feeling afraid" pick up the double edge sword of light and love" SBB Feb 16th.

I shut my eyes in order to see Paul Gauguin

Can it be that just living my life is enough? anon

You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of you intuition.Alan Alda

We are not human beings trying to be spiritual,we are spiritual beings trying to be human. Jaquelyn Small.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The time for running and blaming is past.
The time for staying and creating is now.
The Field (is also) a Study of the immense difference between the laws for the rich and the laws for the poor.

Land and law
Anybody who would like to have more than a tourist knowledge of Ireland should consider at some lenght those two related points.Patrick Kavanagh

Quotes and things (4)

"It is impossible for us to break the law, we can only break ourselves against the law"
Cecil B De Mille.

Be one of the best of your race. Be useful. be proud.Scott Fitzgerald.

Integrity The quality of being unimpaired. Soundness.

Dignity- the state or quality of being worthy.


Highest leadership principals
win-win
   and
interdependency

High on individual- high on team.

constitutional principals

fairness
kindness
dignity
charity
integrity
honesty
service
patience.

Mohandas Gandhi

" I think you will find there is room for us all"

"if you are in a minority of one- the truth is still the truth"

"I am prepared to die for this cause"
there is no cause I am prepared to kill for"

"They may torture my body , even kill me,what have they got? My dead body.
NOT my obedience.

Mrs Gandhi " my didnity comes from following my husband"



" do you fight to change things or do you fight to punish"

" no goodbyes for us Charlie,you are always in my heart"

"SEVEN THINGS THAT WILL DESTROY US"

Wealth without work
Pleasure without conscience
Knowledge without character
Commerce without morality
Science without humanity
Religion without sacrifice
Politics without principal.

amen to this H C.

"To gain Independence  ,we must prove we are worthy of it"

"when I despair I try to remember that all through history .The way of truth and love have always won"

"poverty is the worst form of violence"

"the only devils are the ones running around in our own hearts.
And that is where all the battles should be fought"

Hain Ginotts school principal.

I am a survivor of a concentration camp.My eyes have seen what no person should witness.
Gas chambers made by learned engineers. Children poisoned by educated physicians. Infants killed by trained nurses. Woman and babies shot and killed by high school and college graduates. So I am suspicious of education, my request is-help your students to be human. Your efforts must never produce learned monsters, skilled psychopaths,or educated Eichmanns. Reading and writing and spelling and history and arithmetic are only important if they serve to make our students human. We teach everything in the world to people except the most essential thing " that is..life" Counsellors can teach people about life,love , self respect,relaxation, having fun,patience kindness,standing up for themselves,challenging others and being ALIVE. Counsellors can value the humanness of each student. H C

Quotes (3) 22/6/13

"Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you'll land among the stars"

"More heart then energy
More courage than strength" Richard Pryor

"Do not fear the mistakes, there are none" Miles Davis

"Life shrinks and expands in proportion to one's courage" Anais Nin

Bless and benefit!

"Someone started to listen to me,and they seemed to savour my words.they didn't agree or disagree,they were just listening.and I felt as if they were seeing how I saw the world,and in that process I found myself listening to myself."


"Quality begins with me"
Memory- imagination.
Past-future.

If you cease expecting,you have all things!

"People are not here to meet my expectations"

You are unlimited!

Namaste - true meaning

 = I honour the place in you ,where the entire universe resides ,if we are there together,we are one!

Bell ringing in Inveraray

Stedman 5005- 3 hours 40 minutes. On 25 th September the ring was dedicated to me as it was my birthday and I was guardian of the bell tower at that time.

you can hear a bit of the ring on utube.( not my birthday one sadly)

Quotes thoughts inspirations (2)

A giant is someone who remember that we are all sitting on the shoulders of others.Often invisible people.


Cultivate the habit of saying "thank you"

Viktor Frankl.

In my mind I took bus rides,unlocked the front door of my apartment, answered the telephone,switched on the electric lights, our thought often centred on such detail and these moments could move us to tears.


concentration camp survivor.


Be thankful -go back and think people you did not thank at the time.

Think of all the things that your parents did for you.

who else?

Albert Einstein "Find way to give in return"


A hundred time a day I remind myself that my inner and outer life depends on the labours of other folk, living and dead,and that I must exert myself in order to give back the full measure I have received and am still receiving.

As your awareness of the riches available to you in your every day life grows,
you are on your way to be the laughing buddha,
Life is joyous
Life is Light
Life is happy
you are at last awake.

Quotes, thoughts,inspirations. (1)

In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful,but gratefulness that makes us happy.
Brother David Steindl=Rasi.


Poor people are sometimes more grateful that the people who have material wealth.

When we focus on abundance our life feels abundant.
When we focus on lack,our live feel lacking.
It is simply a matter of focus.


We cannot be in denial about he abundance in our life.


We must acknowledge and deal with our pain.
We must acknowledge and embrace our abundance.


Remember we are not victims.

it is not that beauty does not exist in the world,it's that we seldom seem to notice it.

Start celebrating the riches of your life.

Bring back rituals  ,for example,give thanks!



In India the twice daily acts of Puja is a reminder to live gladly.

Have gratitude friends, ( people who talk about the joy of their lives) and gratitude groups too.(Inside Edge)
150 people met for breakfast and shared the beauty and goodness and gratitude in their lives.

Gratitude dissolves upsets and grievances.
Dr David Reynolds reports
I've never met a suffering neuritic person who was filled with gratitude.

How would your communication change if you removed moans and complaints about life, partners, work children ,bosses...........?

Wake up to happiness- collect quotes that make you feel good.

Create and abundance book...record 5-50 things each day that you are grateful for.


It is not the big splashes that make a life, make each moment exquisite.

A call to Ireland " I am walking in the air"

Enthusiasm ( enthus) the god within ,the spark lights the candle which illuminates the path


The Power of our children! 15th December 2000 Ennis.

I was walking down O'Connell Street in Ennis enjoying the Christmas buzz  and I was surprised to hear my mobile phone ringing. The mobile phone was a new thing and it did not often ring.

 I answered it expecting it to be John ,checking in, wondering where I was.

I heard Andrew's voice " hello mum"

What a wonderful surprise,it was one of those moments when everything slows down, you become aware of everything going on around you , even what you are wearing.
In my case a long green woollen coat bought at the Blarney Woollen Mill in Dublin, and a red and while scarf that I  had knitted for the Christmas season. Several people stopped me and said how festive it looked.
The sky was blue and the winter sun was shining, people were chattering all around me, three woman passed me laid - en with parcels ,and one women passed with a huge bunch of flowers.

" how would you like two visitors at new year?"

" I'd love it,it would be the best Christmas present ever"

We chatted for a little bit  longer said our farewells.

 I continued to walk down O' Connel Street, on air.

Helen Collins

P G

The Rock

your name fits you well
you were the safe foundation for my growth
you radiated warmth love and acceptance
how could I fail to blossom and grow?
you allowed me to cling and get close
you let me run away and didn't count the cost.

From you there is encouragement
I can rest in your love
I can bring out my dreams and start to believe
because you believe there is nothing I can't achieve.

I trust you completely
I feel safe
since I met you
I have a deeper faith.

H C

Cats

Cats are not dogs or hogs
they are cats
purring cats
furry cats
black cats
snowy cats
cats start as kittens
cats have paws for their mittens
they have whiskers and sometimes,sisters
they have tails, but not snails, they don't have tails.
if from the Isle of Man they come, they tails they have none.

H C

A shoulder to cry on!

You sit there a happy shrew
with generations of experience
taming creative talent, freedon=joy
your persistant cry telling me
my only worth is work,and work well done.

i disobeyed and got away with it once
and smiling at the memory
I know you've lost your power
time for me to be me and smily again
as you fall off your perch

Emir Kelly

H.E.L.E.N-------Flamingos.

 Helen
 Encourages
 Loves
 Enables
 Nurtures

Random words to make a poem from.

Flamingos-sunshine-hope-eloquent-harmony-lullaby!



Walking in the sunshine
I see Flamingos take flight
It gives me hope.
I feel eloquent, I expand
Sing a lullaby
To the harmony of nature.

HC

Earth Fire Water Air

A poem we wrote together .... Ruth Helen Nuala Brid Sheilagh...guided by Ruth

.Earth is
mother to me
rich brown fertile
feeds the masses
what keeps me grounded everyday
my home,my family,my blue green planet, my love.
my heart, my nourishing benefactor
my life.

Fire is
so, so dangerous. beware.
it will lick your face with flame
it will dance with you
overwhelming
a turf fire is beautiful in wintertime
enjoy the flame.


Water is
azure blue
kills my thirst
beautiful to bathe in,
I feel great
whenever it touches me,
cascading over my body..
it invigorates me!
water is life.

Air is
pure and life giving
we die when we stop breathing air,
but the air never dies cannot be confines,goes on,and on..
air is energy and refreshes us
air is libra balance
fairness scales,
air,essential to life
without it we die.

Ruth's woman's
 group...Thursday 17th June 2004 Spancilhill Co clare.

Tracking

a poem for Susan and Helen by Clo

Track the tacking of a wedding dress
from a grey winter Glasgow
to a red venture to the outback
along a Rockie mountain rail road

Keeping in touch ,keeping track
Across datelines and time zones
The Songlines get sung down
Long distance phone lines
Sun up,sun down,
Speaking in twilight
Dreaming journeys
Taking flight...

Can I lay my head on your shoulder..?
Will your plait my hair..?
let me take the coloured strands
And sew you wings to wear

Can an island in the pacific jig saw fit
a mountain lake in Canada?
As hand fits into hand
No distance between us
Tacking, tracking
over water, over land

Clodagh Kelly Ennis 2004

( written to go along with a picture she painted for Susan and Gavind 40th wedding anniversary)

Andrew.

It was the happiest day of my life
The day I discovered that you were there.
I danced up Byres Road wanting to tell everybody about you
 And I wanted to hug and kiss people.
I talked to you a lot,I wanted you to know that you were wanted
And that you were a great source of joy to me and to many others too.

I was confident about your birth,I was curious and excited.

I was immensely shocked when we had such a tough time bringing you into the world.

You were distressed and I was ill, you had to be in a little incubator.
We had to be apart right away, and I was afraid and anxious.

You were the most beautiful person I had ever seen
and I was too weak to hold you or to communicate with you ,
all the love and joy that I felt for you but it was there in abundance inside me.

You seemed to recover much quicker that I did
You first year or so was spent with a mum who
was very young and very frightened and in awe of you.

You were so resourceful you were funny and cute
and bright and intelligent.
I could hardly believe that i gave birth to such a wonderful beautiful boy.

H C

qualities I am aware of noticing around that time. In mother and child.

Humour
Clarity
Desire
serious
fear
helpless
hopeful
willing to learn
fun loving
understanding
sensitive
feeling
insecure.

Christmas greeting from JL

Some say that ever .gainst that season comes
Wherein our Saviours birth is celebrated,
The birds of dawning singeth all night long.
And then, they say ,no spirit dare stir abroad.
The nights are wholesome,then no planets strike,
No fairies takes not witch hath power to charm,
So hallow'd and so gracious is this time.

W S 1601

Sapphire

From this fine place
Bereft of all but beauty
On the edge of gracious woods
Where fairies kick puffballs
And squeal like children with
mixed fear and delight
And ancient Quaker peace
Has left it's mark
Where mushrooms are transported
To clay and tiles
One fairy's symbol at least
We woodland folk
Bring griefs and joys here
Dance to the rhythms of the earth
Treasure the low mists shrouding the fields

The light dull=and florescent
And sap the warmth from the later sun

At the meeting place of two becks
In sight of they drystone church
I find the words
Rediscover my sapphire
Through the huge sea coloured stone
Split deep, deep down
Exploding upwards into myriad parts

Small precious jewels
That scatter in dessert sands
through rainforests
In lakeland woods
Beneath the sailors' sea
Waiting for woman
To hold

I rediscover my sapphire
Tears fall into the beck.

Anne Kernighan     Rookhow.

spiders!

I was wary of you at first,
until I realised that God breathed life into your little black body.

You do not see yourself ,you just
turn up in the sink and in the bath
you do not know the fear that you instil in others

you sit there so trusting,then smash>,your little body writhes in pain
some of your legs are missing.

How could you know your sin?

eight black legs are enough to condemn you to the bin!

HC 1970s

Love

LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
LOVE
PEACE   HC

The Visit complicated feeling of love!

At first, a sense of dread,
the thought of it
the memories of the last time,
and the time before.


So selfish ME ME ME
His needs and wants dominate.

Then I remember "He is MY Father"
I remember how much he sacrificed for me ( and never ever mentioned it)
so that I could have my good life.

I look forward to his visit now,
I see him at the airport,
older looking now ,from his illness this year.
Does he notice how I look,does he know I was ill, still am ill?

he comes he demands,he looks old sometimes
he gets so angry at life
people ,politicians, actors, TV DVDs

No music , no theatre, no poetry,

not even cinema! "the pictures"

Life has to be his way,it is what he needs to do .

My needs disappear when he is around. I feel angry, hurt, sad
I want to tell him how it is for me,but I don't
he is just trying to survive.

And when he leaves.

My heart is broken.

The Phone Call

"Helen Collins" I say as I pick up the phone.
"Mum it's  me ...he says through choked sobs,
I feel startled "what has happened?"

"nothing really"
"Thank god"
" will you call me back in 15 minutes?"


He says he believes that shouting means divorce.
My heart aches.
He is starting to grieve for the 9 year old boy who's parents  divorced.
he is suffering now because of "our" choices then.
And that is the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
Sometimes I hate myself,I certainly used to.
Now I understand and love and forgive myself

I was in pain,severe pain,
Kramer v Kramer comes to mind.

He brought so much happiness with him when he arrives on the planet.
He was and is a much loved child
He has the resources, he has the courage
He will travel through this moment, and  grow too!

H C 1990s

St Augustine

People travel to wonder at the height if mountains,
at the huge waves of the sea.
At the long courses of rivers,at the vast compass of the ocean,
at the circular motion of the stars--- and they pass by themselves without wondering.



Encourage your children! HC



Remember to - embrace,breathe,trust.open heal,lighten,enjoy,
                        delight,appreciate,care,share,enough, savour,
                        receive,let go, flow.
I am at peace. I trust. I am blessed. I am loved. I love. HC

Self healing--Ecclestasticus

" But also trust your own judgement for it is your most reliable counsellor.
A man's own mind has sometimes a way of telling him more than seven watchmen posted high on a tower"

Quote from King Lear!

The worst is not,
so long as we can say,
"This is the worst"

( noted at a time of great distress)

poem from a secret friend - 1980's

The Earth sees herself through our eyes
dances our senses
to each new days surprise,
The rainbow of existence
says stay
stay you
stay delicately conscious,
mindfully awake,
for life is
Life is like she is.
never empty never full
but never too much
never too much beauty
never too much love
never too much life
                to discover.....

( possibly by William)

I'd Go Through hell'n high water to get to......Helen

Helen, thy beauty is to me
Like those Nicean barks of yore,
That gently o'er a perfumed sea,
The weary,way worn wanderer bore
To  his own native shore.

On desperate seas long want to roam,
Thy hyacinth hair,thy classic face,
Thy Naiad airs have brought me home
To the glory that was Greece,
And thy grandeur that was Rome

Lo!in yon brilliant window=niche
How statue like I see you stand,
The agate lamp within thy hand!
Ah! Psyche,from the regions which
Are Holy Land!


A poem presented to me by Peter Robinson at a valentine's dinner in the 1970's (he gave all the woman a poem)

Children learn what they live! ( castlenel castalla 19/6/2013:

if a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn
I a child lives with hostility,he learns to fight.
If a child lives with ridicule he learns to be shy.
If a child lives with shame he learns to feel guilty.


If a child lives with tolerance he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement he learns confidence.
If a child lives with praise he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with forgiveness, he learns justice.
If a child lives with security he learns to have faith.
If a child lives with approval he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with friendship and acceptance he learns to find love in the world.


anon

luckenbooth

The Metaphorical Toolbox

The toolbox is a travelling box
Wanted on the voyage
A Luckenbooth; beautiful.
Lock wrought finely in silver wire.

The toolbox is a carrying case,
Passing through checkpoints unobserved.
The toolbox holds no memories,
keeps no secrets.

Feather light and full of skills,
It is my vade mecum,
 my small guitar and my compass rose
A Luckenbooth; beautiful.
Lock wrought finely in silver wire

.Johnttx 08 10 08

Two Little Sisters

I heard Carley Simon singing this song on Something Understood. If you have a sister who shared your childhood ;you will know why I love it and it moves me to tears!

Two Little Sisters

 

Two little sisters gazing at the sea,
Imagining what their futures will be.

The older one says, as her eyes look around,
"I will go as far as the corners of the town.
I'll plant a little garden, flowers everywhere.
And pluck the most fragrant for my hair."

Two little sisters gazing at the sea,
Imagining what their futures will be.

The younger one stands with her eyes open wide.
And says, "I'll go as far as the corners of the sky.
I'll gather all the stars each night as they appear,
And pick the very brightest one to wear in my ear."

I didn't choose you and you didn't choose me.
I didn't choose you, who would guess we're from the same family?

But, what will you do when the nights get cold?
When the stars grow dim and your dreams seem old.
Watcha gonna do when winter calls,
And your flowers fall from the garden walls?

I'll come home to you, you'll come home to me.
My love will be your remedy.
I'll choose you and you'll choose me.
We'll be two daughters dancing by the edge of the sea.

Telephone

TELEPHONE

Telephone told me that you were dead
Now I hate every telephone’s stupid head
I’d rather sit here turning to a block of stone
Than pick up any snake of a telephone

For my parents!

DEATH IS SMALLER THAN I THOUGHT

 

My Mother and Father died some years ago
I loved them very much.
When they died my love for them
Did not vanish or fade away.
It stayed just about the same,
Only a sadder colour.
And I can feel their love for me,
Same as it ever was.

Nowadays, in good times or bad,
I sometimes ask my Mother and Father
To walk beside me or to sit with me
So we can talk together
Or be silent.

They always come to me.
I talk to them and listen to them
And think I hear them talk to me.
It’s very simple –
Nothing to do with spiritualism
Or religion or mumbo jumbo.

It is imaginary.
It is real.
It is love.

beautiful!

“There is a picture of me in their heads, a picture of someone I don't know yet. She is not the chubby girl with the braces and bad perm. She is not the girl hiding in the bathroom at recess. She is someone new, a blank slate they have named beautiful. That is what I am now: beautiful, with this new body and face and hair and clothes. Beautiful, with this erasing of history.”
 Amy Reed, Beautiful 

a poem John found and thought that I would like !

Walking the Bog Road It came to her that happiness would feel like a lark rising from the pit of her stomach to her head to explode in a song only she would recognise. That her heart was a walled garden tended by gardeners called Prudence, Constance and Faith, but her life bore a closer resemblance to a hilltop bog and the people in it, eggs laid by song-birds on the ground, invisible to the human eye yet utterly exposed. That relationships were all about picking steps across that bog without disturbing any nests, and the possibility of joy somehow hung on an intimacy with frailty only known in wildness; like the lark’s eggs, it was something that could not be grasped, something perpetually to be hatched.