Author: poetryandliving

Since I was a young adult, embarking on my voyage of self-discovery, I have been inspired to write poetry. It continues to be a loving and often therapeutic way of exploring the things in life that I am most passionate about. Through my poems I seek to touch the truth of my being and I hope they provide insight to those who read them.
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Patient Trust

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new.

And yet it is the law of all progress
that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—
and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;
your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,
let them shape themselves, without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on,
as though you could be today what time
(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)
will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give Our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete.

—Prayer of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ
excerpted from Hearts on Fire

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Moving into Autumn

Darkness arrives early

As we tumble into Autumn

Into a landscape of change.

Things mount like falling leaves

Beneath the trees.

Time to sweep clean.

Held by a soft chair

The comfort of a warm fire

Sparks thoughts.

Longer nights allow time

To examine and reflect.

Dig deep as the need

Listen -

A pressing invite to stay a while

Perhaps a fleeting visit

Or a time to say goodbye.

As we gently move what has gathered
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Tara Flynn

I am privileged to know Tara Flynn. She is a young woman, a native of my own parish – Cratloe, who has come through many difficulties because of a serious accident.  I came to know Tara through meeting her on my walks in the local forest park.  At first, a few years back, I would see her as she was practicing her running which was part of her physical therapy. Over time I got to know Tara well – her dedication , commitment and tenacity doing was she was doing, in the forestry,  day after day certainly impressed me but even better still was her attitude – so positive, full of  hope and ambitious in spite of her great difficulties.  She frequently spoke to me about her passion for riding and so, you can imagine my delight when, for the first time I encountered Tara in the forestry riding a beautiful horse. I often encouraged her to start her own blog to relay her inspirational story to others. Then I came across this fantastic account  of Tara’s life in “The Irish Field” , the following is a link to an inspiring account of her road to recovery.

“Never give up and always look on the bright side”.

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WildFlowers

In the deep darkness

You began to wake,

Silently stirring.

You journeyed long

Through Spring,

Moving towards the light.

From weaver to young shoot,

Then tall as meadow grass you grew,

Graced with pastel flowers,

Wild and wonderful,

A blaze of colour

In the Summer sun.

Well beyond your sell-by-date,

Planted in hope.

Against the odds you survived,

Encoded to become,

To blossom and surprise.

The seeds from which you came

Will soon again be scattered

On the ground.

The beauty that is life

Forever charged with change.
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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’re a crowd of sorrows,

who violently sweep your house

empty 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 whoever comes,

because each has been sent

as a guide from beyond.

-Rumi
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An Invitation to Joy

Doing is brought to a halt

With an unexpected glimpse of blue -

A Kingfisher on the wing

Passing swift along the riverbank.

The first Cuckoo announcing her arrival

Invites me to go from my work

And follow her call to a distant hill.

Watching kits play in the warm sun

Takes worry away and brings a smile

As the air is flooded white with seeds of adventure.

A Grey Wagtail under a bridge gathers food

And makes me slow as I drive,

For the first time I notice her yellow feathers

And see how she risks her life attending to her brood.

Feeders hanging in the garden

Invite a stream of feathered friends to be named

And dread descends seeing a fledgling wage his first flight.

As I sit, sweet Summer scents drift into my mind

And I know in this moment all is well.
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Gifts

"The things we really need come to us

only as gifts, and in order to receive them as gifts

we have to be open”.

-Thomas Merton
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Relaxing in God’s Love

God, help me to relax into your love.

I do not have to manage it, control it, 

or make sure it is flowing in my life.

I do not need to prove myself worthy of it 

or somehow reassure you (or me) that all is going 

according to plan. I do not need to waste time 

trying to figure out who is your “elect” or not, 

who is saved or not, who is in your grace or not.

I can just accept that you love everyone, and so I can 

relate to everyone I meet as if I’m relating to someone 

truly special and precious in your eyes. 

Help me to relax into this place of radical trust,

radical acceptance of your love, and radical compassion.

I know it is nothing to fuss over, and the more grounded 

I become in the ordinariness of your love, 

the more I am equipped to live a life of radical mercy, 

forgiveness, compassion, justice and love. 

Help me to live in your peace, so that I might be your peace 

— and your joy, and your love. Amen.

 

Carl Colman
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Covid -19

When deadly virus

Invades humanity,

Ripples of fear

Enter all beings.

Invisible foe,

Moving without bounds

To where people dwell.




Must battle the unseen 

As it breaches our cells.

Needs on the frontline

Helping those who fall.

Now is the time,

No cost too high.




No time for murmurings.

Follow the rules,

Allow space; to slow,

To stop the spread,

To save lives.




Chance to explore and dissect,

Knowledge when shared,

Will win.

What lessons for change to be learnt?

What matters most, to consider?

Finding unity of spirit,

Blessing planetary life,   

Shaping the future, together.
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For a Poor Man

Scraping a living at the door,

Sitting alone

With damp seeping into your bones

Like ink on paper.

I too blot you out.

I glance

But I fail to see inside.

Into the loneliness of no one to share with,

Into the fear of troubles ahead,

Into the grief-stricken heart.

I fail to see beyond my assumptions

And into a piece of your story.

Forgive me as I search my pocket

For coins I had forgotten.

The least I could have done

Was to bend down

And ask your preference – tea or coffee?