Poetry list
| Notes to eternity ~ a sonnet | ‘Tis commonplace for music to be played |
| A sonnet of severance | |
| The heart of all matter ~ a sonnet of love | (written on a train and in an Ibis Hotel in London at breakfast) |
| A sonnet of melting worlds | Written on a train to and from my great grandson Max’s |
| A sonnet of unremembered living | Written whilst looking out to sea at Aldeburgh |
| the flag and the shell | a sandy beach and that urge |
| history | all our histories are a |
| holiness | are holy places and people |
| gaze away | as the light touches |
| reflected light | at times the moon |
| a rose arisen | bud bloom and |
| seeing ~ more or less | do I know what I want the |
| Beauty's benison ~ a sonnet | Does habit take away our freedom true |
| surface | does the surface |
| blind and deaf | energies wild and gentle |
| a baptism of the deeps | for some the summer beckons |
| now and never | it all happened where |
| inconsolable | it’s non negotiable |
| no rhyme nor reason | no life we know has not a heart of finite beats |
| Easter amalgam | Our lives are split yet held as one in love, |
| friday | outside of the city areas |
| leverage | pulling levers one way or |
| the turning tide | some say the wind |
| Ascension ~ a sonnet of love's power | The power that lifted love incarnate high |
| The dissembler's sonnet | The sheep and wolf are warnings to us all |
| the finding | the sudden silence |
| Just a thought? ~ a sonnet of retrieval | There comes a thought that stops us in our track, |
| A year's mind sonnet | This death I face of which I’m most afeared |
| dance | to many religion seems or feels |
| hard facts | what currency does |
| e.s.p. – without question marks | what is this world without senses |
| down and out? | you walked down 26 |
| A Christmas Cantilena | (based on the chiastic structure of Pietru Caxaro's 'Cantilena' c. 1470 in Maltese) |
| shipping forecast | (celebrating 100 years) |
| A sonnet defying Babel | (written on a train between London and Rochester) |
| A sonnet of deception | (written on a train between Rochester and London) |
| 70 ~ a sonnet of years | (written on a train returning from London) |
| A sonnet of sight | (written on a train returning from the National Gallery Siena exhibition) |
| Overleaf ~ a sonnet of surprise | (written on a train to London) |
| painted in love | (written on the train to visit the National Gallery Siena exhibition) |
| flos pacem | 8th May ~ VE Day 2025 |
| A villanelle of promise | A poem especially for those outside the Church |
| chronophage | a sextet for Holy Week |
| A cavatina of release | Another rail trip – to the Proms – another poem |
| poetic justice | for the untold unpublished! |
| A cavatina of music's power | On the train home from Mahler’s 3rd |
| compostela | St James’s Day 2025 |
| with this ring | a band of gold |
| a christmas devotion | a newborn baby |
| splintered | a note sounds and it |
| is never or always | as I watch daily delights |
| cut loose | balloons and kites |
| heliotrope | beckoned by the |
| A sonnet of one direction | Can this be true – that life is but one way – |
| nata lux | coming on clouds |
| passion | fire and wind |
| caprice | for humankind |
| stop still | going forward |
| dancing dust | how many pieces are |
| anniversary flood | i reach out to you |
| A Christmas sonnet of decision | If God indwells with us in every way. |
| hidden truth | if you know you |
| A cavatina of mercy | In every age our human hearts do burn |
| easter descent | inside all our |
| the call of home | into a vast immeasurable cosmos |
| eternity in a bottle | it can’t be done says |
| relics | leftovers and |
| A kyrielle for peace | Our hearts are battlegrounds within |
| personal passion | our kisses lasted |
| the capricious tide | our lives are governed physically |
| A sonnet for Lent | Our way is always strewn with rocks and stones – |
| the clock that blooms | planted in cogs and |
| the tin opener and the dawn | pressure, convenience, |
| the pulse of God | rhymes and rhythms |
| meetings | so many and so |
| extra mural | that’s where he |
| focus | the crystal sparkling |
| easter freefall | the descending lift |
| new year's eve | the dying of the |
| light and law | the honeyed stone |
| the way back is the way forward | the road we travel |
| quayside | the ship has sailed |
| o salutaris | the simple disc white |
| propulsion | the spark in the tinder |
| the bend | the unknowness |
| empty | the world is too full |
| fragments | there is a big |
| easter ride | this is no sectarian |
| grate loss | together we laid a |
| dogma without debate | truth is like a |
| asphyxiation | truth is oxygen |
| declension | variation and |
| none of our busyness | we are caught up like |
| unfamiliar unwrapped | we have all we need |
| speechless | what language |
| A sonnet that sings | What story does the music weave this night |
| out of the blue | when love’s tide ebbed |
| the face of the crucified | why look it’s him |
| there is no switch | you can’t turn it |
| cracked alembic | you want to |
| lycanthropy | you would never think |
| call it out | (calare – to call out) |
| Powerless Praise | (Commissioned as anthem text by Philip Wilby to celebrate |
| a brumal trilogy | winter |
| substantiation (A Camino Quartet 4) | a single silver |
| starlight express | advent takes away |
| Trivia | Big gestures, big welcome! |
| tidiness at Christmastide | buy eat dance drink |
| don't meddle with metaphysics | can peace and conflict |
| holed below the water | cold and deathly |
| december caress | december without god |
| dare I ask | did it happen |
| calibration | does it matter |
| all aboard | each year we buy |
| the fire of faith | from the wastelands |
| A villanelle of the broken heart | Grief’s furnace melts us all as loved ones die, |
| telling the difference | how different is |
| A sonnet of substance | I lean against a fence that cannot hold |
| Resentment | I may be green and vegetable |
| changing the points | I never knew I |
| Herod's song | I speak the language of power |
| A cinquain of sleep | In sleep we find a strange and distant world |
| d day eve 80 | in town dining alone |
| draining or feeding | it slinks |
| seven days | it’s happening |
| dare this be so | its form is young and smiling |
| like plastic (A Camino Quartet 2 ~ at the Pilgrims' Mass at Santiago de Compostela) | like plastic heated |
| 3 operas 1 poem | love offered and rejected |
| epiphany | magi magic myrrh |
| signature | marks that are mine |
| the step (A Camino Quartet 1 ~ a Camino truth) | one of countless |
| before a pilgrimage | part of a journey |
| storms and teacups | size and significance |
| metaphor and simile | stuff your poetry |
| soup of the day | take potassium |
| head over heels | that’s love it |
| dark arts (an epiphany) | the bended knee the star– |
| fast food | the clatter of the |
| unframed | the frame that |
| A villanelle of time | The future’s gaze makes history of us all, |
| pilgrims | the journey the |
| finisterre | the land has gone |
| la danse atomique | the light fantastic |
| winter solstice | the night is blessed |
| A villanelle of the Camino (A Camino Quartet 3) | The scallop beams and beckons on the Way – |
| winding and unravelling | the snared garment |
| overcoat | the sun is shining |
| the hook of reality | there is a reverberation |
| noel noel | this star doesn’t |
| canopy | under the shadow |
| infusion | we are bolted |
| the drive of your life | we’re off out of the |
| seasons | which season |
| the four winds | why four why |
| crucis | |
| raw emotion | (beyond metaphor) |
| A Confirmation Acrostic for Benjamin | 26th November 2023 ~ The Feast of Christ the King |
| puzzling or dazzling | A poem for Pentecost |
| dark mystery | a song of two souls |
| unction | more than we can ever mean |
| shingle | shingle shore shingle shore shingle and shore |
| looking east | Written during the Israeli–Gaza conflict in October 2023 after a visit to Haddon Hall and its chapel with recently restored east window |
| Two acrostics of remembrance | Written hastily as I led a workshop: 'Remembrance ~ Imprints on the soul' |
| flowing | a river runs |
| the triumph of the moment | amidst the buzz |
| the golden string | amidst the warp and |
| Art's leaven | Art is the scent and not the flower |
| ascension | ascension is |
| blowing in the wind | autumnal smoke seems |
| requiescat | below the copper beech |
| the other | birth and death are one |
| benison | blessing is a kiss the |
| redemption | bring me to the moment when I know |
| heaven scent | can you smell eternity |
| sparkle | catching the light |
| symphony ~ a poem of the incarnation | cells and tissue |
| and its place will know it no more | chilling and true |
| lachrimae | cried or suppressed |
| come sweet death | death has revealed new truths |
| unbound | does the frame |
| a terrible beauty | dreaded |
| drowning in love | drowning in love |
| Tutored Time ~ A Sonnet | Each life is set within a frame and view: |
| under the shadow | every shadow is a |
| relevance | faith is the language |
| injury time | FIRST HALF |
| the table | gathering place |
| love is faith is hope | grief powerful |
| the miracle of music | he enters through the |
| antiphon | how can i sing the |
| eggs in the basket | how many eggs |
| Bread | How simple seems the joy of bread |
| falling into you | I can feel you |
| sentience | I think |
| rebellion and submission | I want you back |
| red mist | in a flash a reeling |
| gain and loss | in love both |
| nec tamen consumebatur | in those moments |
| the path | increasingly I |
| memories | into the stillness |
| dust free | it clogs and smothers |
| imagination | it is being stunned |
| the skittle | it stands scarred |
| parting | it was coming |
| vendetta | it’s Mine because |
| the terror | it’s new since we |
| climate change | living beyond |
| innocence | living in each moment |
| gathered | living on the watery |
| demolished by a piece of bronze | looking up my |
| encounter | love’s meaning is |
| lookout | most of us |
| effervescence | our love was |
| oblivion | our true home |
| tutti | please don’t |
| poesy | poetry isn’t understanding |
| prayer | prayer is about being |
| context | prayer is about climate |
| the only way | resignation brings a |
| tended | she filled my life |
| overcome | so much reduces |
| presence absence | so near so real |
| to pray is to bleed | sometimes a drop a |
| shingle shore chaconne | song of the sea casts its hypnotic spell |
| endless spring | spring is exactly |
| a year of tears | surprised |
| corpus christi | the bread is |
| which way | the compass is |
| solstice | the dancing |
| below the surface | the diamond glint |
| the echo | the echo is reality |
| Love beneath the tide ~ a sonnet | The gentle lapping rill and flowing stream |
| The Winged Lion ~ A Villanelle for the Feast of St Mark | The golden lion lifts us on his wings – |
| rainbow love | the heavenly arch |
| without trace | the imprint of love lies just out of our sight |
| noel | the lost is born in |
| taking the plunge | the moment on the |
| ex machina | the music physically |
| wrapping up the wrong gift | the night at |
| daynight | the paradox |
| silence | the silence that is |
| song | the song that I |
| An Easter Villanelle | The sound of silence sings on Easter Day! |
| interior light | the stillness the |
| value the shadows | the tidal water glistens |
| quid est veritas | the truth the mystery of this life |
| A Villanelle of the Spirit's Deeps | There flows a stream which bathes the broken day; |
| note to self | there is a greater music |
| splintered love | there is a splinter |
| reckless | there is a wonder |
| will this be the last | there is no dying year |
| local weather | there’s a storm |
| righting the writing | these familiar yet |
| why metaphors | they earth and open |
| two hemispheres | they’re not equal |
| the alabaster vase | thirty seven years |
| marriage | till |
| conquest | truth and beauty |
| vortices and thermals | walls of sound |
| crucifixus | we live and die |
| angels | what do you see what |
| the looking glass | what do you see |
| silentium | what kind of god |
| the turning year | what we notice and |
| a glimpse of heaven | when love and flesh |
| prose and song | when you’re minding |
| lucifer | why does an |
| broken joys and empty living | words words or feelings |
| imprint | you have made |
| insufficiency | you have your memories |
| planting | you ordered golden |
| ruthless | the title should be repeated before each stanza |
| Beyond reason | Lines written with one eye (my surgeon loves music) & inspired by Emily Dickinson |
| telescoped time | a scene unfolds |
| futility | aggression and violence |
| revaluation | all my life |
| limen ~ the last step ...and the first | all our days lead to one |
| unravelling | as the clock ticks |
| forwards and backwards ~ an autumnal sigh | as the leaves |
| the abyss | at the prospect |
| breathtaking | beauty and wonder |
| over familiar | blessed to make |
| overturn | catastrophe |
| shaft | christmas is a gift |
| fault line | christmas lies |
| the seasons | circle or progress |
| the living mystery | death is so |
| inside a second | eternity is hidden |
| knife edge | faith is a |
| petrified (grief is fear) | from stone is |
| artificial light (the penumbra of grief) | have I taken |
| cristo re | his kingship is |
| freefall | how long |
| the puzzle | how many pieces |
| black hole | how much do |
| journey's end | I am not well–travelled |
| till death do us part | I never realised what |
| descent | I walk down the |
| one moment | ice sheets and |
| curtain up | if all the world |
| crucible | in darkness |
| In life, in death ~ a villanelle of the heart | In life, in death, love fills each heart: |
| inside the music | inside the music |
| trading gifts | it is just |
| royalty | it is the oil |
| power | it takes strength |
| mid–august assumption | laying aside |
| advent lost | leafless days as |
| Ruth | Love’s new beginning born amid the corn |
| bound | more than |
| the outsider | my life |
| incandescence | no trick of the |
| simulacrum | nothing is at is seems |
| on the brink | on the brink |
| black minutes | poured into two |
| humility | pouring myself into |
| breath | start at the end |
| elegy | the bell tolls |
| quo vadis | the compass |
| hodie | the gift |
| ajar | the light seeps |
| zenith | the longest day comes |
| emptiness | the manger is more |
| punctuation | the marks that |
| mystery | the mystery |
| belonging | the root of being |
| howl | the smirk of pain and death |
| horizon | the solemn rites are over |
| threshold | the step between |
| three earths short | the sum of |
| beached | The tide of my life |
| teetering | the water laps |
| reconstruction | the winter is so long |
| surrender | the word and the note |
| shadows | the world is still |
| erasure | traces remain |
| A villanelle of beauty | Truth and beauty show us love’s intent: |
| the ebb tide and the flood | unceasing save for |
| tomorrow | what is the point of |
| mancando | what is the |
| floating on my back | when I’m not |
| 37 | yes thirty seven |
| The Choice ~ a question of faith | It could be just my opinion |
| Human Weather | Bethlehem is cut off |
| Love's Depths ~ a villanelle of water and life | God stills the storms of waters’ might: |
| Inside the silence | Music sweeps through us |
| It won't add up | our sums don’t add up |
| Embedded God | out of sight |
| Waiting Room | Advent is a waiting room |
| Beyond comprehension | Below the lights and tinsel |
| A Lenten gift | Lent is more than a season, |
| A Villanelle for Lent | Take now the path of love and truth to grow: |
| Easter +50 | The inner and the outer worlds |
| Advent Waiting ~ an incomplete truth? | Is all our living a time of waiting? |
| The Wedding at Cana | The empty jars at Cana’s feast |
| Maranatha | The waiting is over |
| A Christmas lullaby for the soul | This baby born in distant years |
| Breath, beasts and straw | Another breath – |
| Dare to stop | Stop! |
| Beyond Bethlehem | Bethlehem |
| Dust and Ashes | Dust. |
| Verses accompanying the Seven Last Words from the Cross | The seven last words from the Cross |
| The kiss of God | Hush. |
| Wind and Fire ~ A Sonnet for Pentecost | The power of nature flows through every day |
| Candlemas ~ A Sonnet | Two turtledoves are offered to the Lord |
| A Christmas Sonnet of the Dispossessed | We know the place where Jesus Christ was born |
| A Contradiction of Sense | God’s Son is born as cattle low |
| Summer somersaults of joy | Summer somersaults of joy!
|
| Clavis Christi | He came |
| Oculus | We live in a world of beginnings and ends: |
| Two Sonnets of Faith | DUST |
| The Shard and the Heart | Shard – mighty tower like Babel built by human hands |
| The Lens | What can I see of Christmas? |
| Two Church Sonnets | THE GARDEN |