



Broken, we are whole








I think I’ll make myself a cup of tea
But first I’ll scan a photo of my love.
He looks just like he looked when he met me.
How hard can scanning photos truly be?
I pray for aid to helpers from above
I’ll think I’ll have to make myself more tea
I see him now so vibrant by the sea.
He bought me Chanel soap and leather gloves
He laughs just like he laughed and joked with me.
If he were here he’d remonstrate with me.
Obsessed by a desire that pulls and shoves.
I ‘ll have to make a sandwich and more tea
I took such photos when we sawTralee.
And Cornwall, Benidorm and Ladbrook Grove
He smiles just like he smiled when he saw me.
Why did Cohen sing of holy doves?
Why are joy and woe so finely wove?
I think I’ll make myself a pot of tea
My husband looks in reverie at me.
Rain falls lightly in the winter wood,
Dampening stones that make a pathway through
The overgrown, the old trees and the new.
The odour of the rain on grass is good
I see the acers coming into bud.
The daffodils are waving as I view.
The lily pond is lonely without you.
We used to feed a robin when we could
After Mass on Sunday mornings then
We’d drive to woods and walk to lessen strain.
But now I cannot write, I clutch your pen.
My inspiration gives me life again.
Without your hand in mine, I walk quite lame.
The dampness on my face is tears, not rain

“The poem, “My Letters! all dead paper…”(Sonnet 28) by Elizabeth Barrett Browning is an example of an Italian sonnet. The rhyming words are shown in bold, and the rhyme scheme is represented in the letters at the end of each line.
My letters! all dead paper, mute and white! (a)
And yet they seem alive and quivering (b)
Against my tremulous hands which loose the string (b)
And let them drop down on my knee tonight. (a)This said he wished to have me in his sight (a)
Once, as a friend: this fixed a day in spring (b)
To come and touch my hand. . . a simple thing, (b)
Yes I wept for it�this . . . the paper’s light. . .(a)Said, Dear, I love thee; and I sank and quailed (c)
As if God’s future thundered on my past. (d)
This said, I am thine�and so its ink has paled (c)
With lying at my heart that beat too fast. (d)
And this . . . 0 Love, thy words have ill availed (c)
If, what this said, I dared repeat at last!.”(d)
The English /Shakespearean sonnet has the following, looser rhyme scheme:
Let’s look at a Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18.” Once again, the rhyming words are shown in bold, and the rhyme scheme is reflected in the letters at the end of each line.
Shall I compare thee to a Summer’s day? (a)
Thou art more lovely and more temperate (b)
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May, (a)
And Summer’s lease hath all too short a date: (b)Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines, (c)
And oft’ is his gold complexion dimm’d; (d)
And every fair from fair sometime declines, (c)
By chance or nature’s changing course untrimm’d: (d)But thy eternal Summer shall not fade (e)
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest; (f)
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade, (e)
When in eternal lines to time thou growest: (f)So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see, (g)
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee. (g)”
In order to create we move the lines
The boundaries or the edges of the forms
Co-created, neither yours nor mine
Who was it who made the first designs?
To start with it is frightening then more calm
In order to create we move the lines
How we do it, can we now define?
Let the eyes graze till they leave the norm
Co-created, neither yours nor mine
Let the colours wander till combined
Reverse the ground and let new figures form
In order to create, arrange the lines
If it’s common keep it unrefined
Don’t impress with artificial charm
Co-created, neither yours nor mine
Like Picasso, you may cause alarm
Keep the secret locked away from harm
In order to create we move the lines
When created, it’s both yours and mine

Capel Manor Horticultural College
[I don’t do it the way below with the rhymes chosen first but try it]
http://classicalpoets.org/how-to-write-a-villanelle-with-examples/
I find it easier to build two rhyming metered lines. For this example, I have chosen to use friendship as a theme, and I am going to use iambic pentameter… not because it’s required for the form, but because I like the cadence it produces.
With this in mind, after some deliberation, my two refrain lines will be:
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.
This meter decision and the creation of these two lines is the most difficult part of the villanelle crafting process. Once you have written these echoing lines that fit together, you can create the framework of poetic feet that will comprise the poem itself. Following the villanelle’s pattern, I get:
Note: in this pattern, (-) will represent a soft syllable, and (=) will represent a hard one with (|) as a separator between feet.
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(b) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.
(a) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(b) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(a) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(b) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.
(a) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(b) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(a) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(b) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.
(a) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(b) – = | – = | – = | – = | – =
(A1) Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
(A2) For no one understands me like you do.
As you can see, we need 5 (a) lines, and 6 (b) lines to complete the poem, and these must flow within the theme. Since I already know the rhyme sound for (a), I chose the following list: you, too, blue, new, view
I then chose six keywords that rhymed with each other that felt like good accents to this list: comprehend, friend, pretend, send, mend, end
By plugging these into the pattern, and then creating iambic feet that rounded out the meter, I was able to build a nice poem that fit the theme.
Hold My Hand In Yours
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
If life becomes too hard to comprehend,
for no one understands me like you do.
Along life’s lonely road, I’ll walk with you.
When times are hard, please know you have a friend.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
I’m here for you. You give me your strength too;
my courage is no longer just pretend,
for no one understands me like you do.
My friend, I’ll cheer you up when you are blue,
A smile, my heart to yours will always send.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through.
If I am down, you make me feel brand new
You know the way, my broken heart to mend,
for no one understands me like you do.
Though oft times life presents a horrid view,
Together we can face the bitter end.
Hold my hand in yours; we’ll make it through,
for no one understands me like you do.
© 2016, Dusty Grein
It may not be Dylan Thomas, but I kind of like the result. It could stand a bit of editing and some polishing, but it is a solid foundation.
As you can see, the crafting of a classic metered poem, even in a form as rigid as the villanelle, is something that can be challenging, yet fun. Writing metered rhymes in these types of forms will help you grow as a poet, and I encourage you to challenge yourself, and see what happens.
Other Villanelles published by the Society of Classical Poets
Apes or Angels
Gospel According to Hoffman-Laroche
Villanelles for Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China
Coming Out, a Holocaust Vilanelle
Camino D’Oro
Dusty Grein is an author, poet and graphics designer from Federal Way, Washington. He currently lives in the Pacific Northwest, where his 15 year old daughter is hard at work securing her college degree while still in high school, and raising him right. When he is not busy writing, he donates a great deal of his time and graphics talent. In honor of his grandson Eddy, lost to SIDS at 13 weeks old, he creates free memorial images for bereaved families, with a special focus on infant and pregnancy loss. His blog, From Grandpa’s Heart… is followed by fans around the world.
When sick with flu, Lord Death feels all too near
it is indeed a sleep by will desired
Without distress nor shedding of a tear
Perhaps our destiny has brought us here
Those who ‘re often truthful are still liars
At certain times we feel the death dance near
In the dark, the demons seem to leer
As wrestlers now they throw us on the pyre
Show no distress nor shed a single tear
We won’t inhabit life in subtle fear
We’ve been thrown and pinned onto barbed wire.
At evening time we feel our breath draw fire.
If only those I loved had lingered years
That I have been estranged in ruined choirs
Hiding my distress In sheets of tears
There is no rescue from these gnarled briars
Let God and nature warm me with sun’s fires
Winter- tired and weary, death lurks near
Greet the end quite calmly when it’s here.
I remember someone, possibly Edison saying, I have not failed 150 times I have experimented in 150 different ways and I believe that trying and failing is simply the way we get to know the problem better if we do everything right the first time we do not learn as much. Vision and perception are crucial in solving problems or in creation. True perception takes time. it is not instant.And we make mistakes which we learn from.Otherwise we go stiff like unused joints
Both mean not having, but one means missing too.
Absence can be welcome, but lack implies desire—
the absence of some noise, a lack of you
might be a good example. And it’s true
that lack makes judgment, means that we require
the thing that’s gone (a constant aching, too)
while absence just reports; we can make do
with smaller things; it doesn’t sound so dire.
Who needs the noise? (But I need you.)
Absence lets us start anew,
while lacking keeps us laced to its dark pyre.
Both are not having, but one is missing too,
and wanting nothing more than to undo
whatever sins caused lacking to transpire.
The noise is done, and so, I guess, are you
with me. In verse I struggle to subdue
my restless heart. (The lacking makes me tired.)
Both mean not having; one means missing too—
the absence of some noise, a lack of you.
Annie Diamond is a student at Barnard College, a private women’s liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University. She has also studied abroad at Mansfield College, one of the constituent colleges of Oxford University in England. She recently completed her sophomore year at Barnard College, where she studies English and creative writing. Her work has been published in Apt, Avatar Review, Clockwise Cat, The Columbia Review and The Lyric. She was awarded first prize in The Lyric‘s College Poetry Contest for her villanelle “The Difference Between Lack and Absence.” The same poem later won the Lyric Memorial Prize and was named the best poem to appear in The Lyric for the year 2013. Her favorite writing spot is the Hungarian Pastry Shop on New York City’s 111th Street, and her number one life ambition is to appear on Jeopardy.
“It was my honor and pleasure to judge The Lyric‘s yearly and quarterly awards. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my favorite poem for the year 2013 was written by a college student, Annie Diamond. I believe she has a very bright future.”—Michael R. Burch

I was angry with my friend;
I told my wrath, my wrath did end.
I was angry with my foe:
I told it not, my wrath did grow.
And I water’d it in fears,
Night & morning with my tears:
And I sunned it with smiles,
And with soft deceitful wiles.
And it grew both day and night.
Till it bore an apple bright.
And my foe beheld it shine,
And he knew that it was mine.
And into my garden stole,
When the night had veild the pole;
In the morning glad I see;
My foe outstretched beneath the tree.
Every day in summer I’d cross the border;
he’d nod, pick up the horseshoes,
hand me one, triple the size
of my palm, and say, You first. We’d play
away the afternoon. Few words
punctuated the clank of horseshoe
against stake, until the fog rolled in
and I’d retrace my steps home.
I was five or six; he, white haired,
however old that meant.
One evening my father sat me down,
spoke in the exaggerated tone
adults adapt for children, asked
if I knew who he was.
Admiral Nimitz, of course, though
I knew nothing of his command
of the Pacific Fleet and was less impressed
than if he’d landed a horseshoe.
He was a calm man, a useful attribute
for sending young men to their deaths.
The only time I saw him upset,
raccoons had invaded from their hideouts
in the hills, attacked the goldfish in his pond,
leaving muddy footprints as they escaped.
As far as I knew, this was his only de

You may be surprised to learn that some of the ideas in religion can help you control your home and your possessions.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit” is part of the Sermon on the Mount but also Jesus said to the rich young man to give away all his physical possessions
I don’t think we can give away all our possessions if we live here in 2017 but we can certainly give some of them. It will help the poor , as I said when I gave away my winter coat that someone else will be glad of it.The fewer possessions we have the less storage space we need and also it will save time in caring for these possessions and give us time for creativity, meditation and fun
Before we start on creating more storage space or tidying up what we have it is sensible to look at our possessions and see if we have duplicates or just too many things. I have got too much cutlery now. Before you give away possessions that you once needed for entertaining, show yourself some mercy because you may be sad over the fact that you can no longer entertain people in the way that you used to do.
You may find that you have a lot of maps and guidebooks about places where you used to holiday and it may be just as well to give these away. and likewise, if you are retired you may be able to give away books or other possessions relating to your job [if you are fortunate enough to have had that kind of job.]
Little by little wander through your rooms thinking the unthinkable. Have you got broken lamps or broken electrical goods that you intended to have repaired but you never did?
I decided to make some images with my camera which of these broken objects as a project of images which symbolise that we will never be other than broken as people ; that we will never be perfect .When I have finished this project I will give away these objects or put them into recycling
If it’s possible to get rid of a lot of your thingsyou may not need as much extra storage space as you think
Do think you why you might need more storage space? I was a teacher and an ardent learner of new ideas I would tend to buy books without thinking if I had space for them. now I need to reconsider getting more bookshelves or getting rid of books.
If you have acquired a lot of clothing because your size has changed then you may want to rationalise your wardrobe. See you what you wear over a period of a month and then look what you haven’t worn and consider it.You can donate to a charity shop where other people will be very glad to get it.
At one time people never wore second-hand shoes unless they were very poor but now that many of us have got a lots of shoes some may not be worn and can be given away if you for no longer wear heels or fashion shoes . the remainder you will have to take to the recycling centre
These activities are going to take time and if you have visitors to your home while you are in the middle of this rationalisation, do not be surprised if they pass rude remarks about your entire house because doing this kind of work will initially create more and chaos as you stack the clothes and books and put them into suitable heavy duty bags
It’s a bit like having psychotherapy. I imagine at the beginning you reveal many painful feelings and you may feel worse than you did but hopefully with the aid and support of the therapist you will learn how to deal with these feelings better than you did before so in the end, we hope that we will feel better but in the middle of such things or when we are in the middle of grieving and mourning we do not believe things will get better in time
Fortunately getting rid of some possessions is not as painful as grieving for the death of your mother.
I believe it is better not to criticise oneself for having been too extravagant or wasteful. We must be kind to ourselves because it is painful enough getting rid of possessions without beratinging ourself at the same time. We are only human and then in a consumer society, it is sometimes hard to resist buying things that we do not really need. If you decided when you were 21 never to buy anything that you didn’t really need then of course you wouldn’t have this problem of giving things away
After you have given away as much as you can from the first room that you are tidying then you may need to consider whether you need to need an extra storage for what remains. It may be that you can put some of them into storage that already exists in another room. I have a lot of storage in my dining room but I don’t turn to working there so much now partly because it’s facing East and the sun is too bright in the morning but I can still use the shelves to store my books which are now in the sitting room .I t would make sense to make one room always ready for having a friend round or simply to go into in the evening to listen to music and relax no longer irritateded by the books in heaps

Photo by Mike Flemming
What do you plan to use your house for?
It is sensible to think about what activities you may want to use your home for. If you want to have people to stay with you then consider if you have a spare bedroom is it suitable for having a someone sleeping in there? This may sound silly but I have got a lot of things on my spare bed which I have not yet had time to sort out. but if it’s a priority to have relatives to stay then sorting that out might be very important. but probably what is more important for most of those is having people round for a meal in which case you will need to clear all the things that you leave on the table and make sure you have the dining chairs available. I sometimes take them into the other room.
Then, of course, you need somewhere for people to sit down in the sitting room that seems obvious. If you’re like me you may use one of the arm chairs for keeping things on that you need while you are working like your diary your phone, your camera , your sketch pad and so on. In this case, it might be wise to have a bag which does not look like a garbage bag into which you can put these things if someone comes to call but at the very minimum, you should have one chair clear all the time and ideally a sofa.;my poor husband used to throw his coat and his possession onto the Sofa when he came home ;that needs thinking about :where you do put the things like your coat, briefcase, handbag andso when you come into the house from a trip or from work throwing things onto the sofa puts a sofa out of use and will need somebody to move the things elsewhere. Wouldn’t it be better not to put them on the sofa in the first place?
You can buy attractive looking over the door hooks wish you could put on the back of the dining room door or the kitchen door if you don’t have enough room for hall storage and it’s also somewhere you can hang visitors coats as well temporarily. There are also useful for temporarily hanging clothes that you have just ironed if you still do iron your clothesI hear that if you dry your clothes in a electric clothes dryer or tumble dryer you may not need to iron them but I do not possess these. if you slightly disabled it is quite possible to iron while sitting down and if you are not too tired if it’s quite soothing why I might almost call it meditation. knitting can also be a soothing activity as long as you don’t mind undoing it from time to time when you notice that you have made a mistake
I remember someone , possibly Edison saying, I have not failed 150 times I have experimented in 150 different ways and I believe that trying and failing is simply the way we get to know the problem better ; if we do everything right the first time we do not learn as much. Vision and perception are crucial in solving problems or in creation. True perception takes time. it is not instant.And we make mistakes which we learn from
I read a book that said that you only need one sheet and one duvet cover for your bed because you can take them off in the morning put them into the washer dryer and then put them back on in the evening and so you will not need a cupboard full of sheets etc. Well that might be alright but I think I’m like one spare set. if you have children or if you have an older person he may suffer the odd leakage then you certainly more than one set of bedding. but remember to check it every year because it is easy to forget what we have in the airing cupboard or the wardrobe and then to buy more without realising it is unnecessary.

What is the minimum amount of spare bedding that you can live with? one of my friends sleeps in a sleeping bag and the bag can go into the washing machine and the dryer or you can use a sleeping bag liner made of fleece which dries very quickly
if you collect a lot of knick knacks then charity shops do like that sort of thing so put it into a bag and I bring joy to someone else’s heart
We never had many knick knacks in my home as a child but my husband’s family did and do so my house is similar to theirs. I have a lot of seashells and other interesting objects which I used to use when I was going to art classes
I suppose that if you ever do any dusting or wiping surfaces down that is a good time to look at your little objects and ask yourself if you could live without them. I plan to do that starting today. if you find it difficult to stand up for very long because of arthritis put a chair near the table or surface you want to clear and then you can concentrate on what you are doing without being overwhelmed by pain. I have got a shopping trolley which can also be used as a seat and I keep it in the kitchen or you can buy cheap folding chairs that you can carry around easily and put it next to the place you want to sort out.
if you don’t have a car, ask to your friends to take your bags to the charity shop or find it a charity shop which does collection this I have found one a few miles away which is raising money for children’s cancer research and I tend to call them to come and collect things which are in good condition so that they can sell them in their shop. the British Heart Foundation even collect furniture and I think the Salvation Army also will take things like blankets on larger objects and if you tell yourself while you are giving the things away to think about the people who are going to receive them it will help you not to be sad but you can’t keep everything because if you keep it all you may have to build more storage or live in a very untidy house>
The Bible says is good for our spiritual health not to love possessions which of course is quite right . The question is can you use your home for the purposes that you want to use it for sitting down, sleeping ,eating, entertaining ,writing, hobbies ,watching TV etc and if you can’t then you must start to do something about it even if it’s only half an hour every day. it may seem onerous but remember the number of things in your house is not infinite and therefore in time you will be able to reduce the number and it maybe that you would even have some spare space instead of being overwhelmed by your possessions
So what the Bible says is good for our spiritual development namely poverty of spirit is also connected to actual poverty in the sense of not being greedy and not owning too many things.

When I see a story of a wealthy person being mugged as they walk down the street wearing diamond necklaces and rings I do not believe the mugger was right to attack them but on the other hand they are flaunting their wealth and flaunting your wealth and flaunting your body may make other people feel envious or angry. I know we are supposed to be free to wear and do what we want but I think we should consider how it will affect other people around us.I only had one ring which had any value whatsoever which my husband bought me but it was stolen by someone who offered to help me to clean the house I am pretty sure .I did not do anything about it because I had no proof. if you do you have anything of value then put it somewhere safe and only use it in safe places well it will not be a temptation to others. That’s my point of view as long as society is so unequal.That causes a lot of suffering.
Now therapy usurps the place of faith
And into our own minds we’re told to delve
Whatever we now think , we have to say it
In that way Freud thinks we find a truer self.
The therapist is like a looking glass
They just reflect whatever we have bared.
But if we look to long, it comes to pass
That Satan and his devils are prepared.
They may enchant us into false self-love
To value pride and then deceive our souls;
Yet to humble people comes the holy dove
And self-forgetting is what makes us whole.
Confused, alarmed and reckless with despair
Look out, not in, and find salvation there
I can’t go out,
I am boiling my mittens
I am washing my lair.
I am retiling the ceiling
I am freezing the cleaner.
I am filing a grudge
I need a new body of work.
I am rhyming worse.
My ghost is calling.
The phone is dead.
The computer is asking for my vital head tricks
I am a liar
Believe me.
If I were to choose a flower for my love
A rose of perfect form would be my choice
A rain of roses from the sky above
Might express what I can’t yet voice.
I might well choose a daisy with no thorns
I might choose lush lipped tulip for design
But never would I send a flower forlorn
Should you reject this loving heart of mine.
But, no, I choose these roses for your bliss
For Blake wrote of a tiger not a dog;
Yet if I am made bloody by a kiss,
I shall be turned at once into a frog.
The rose with other names would still be sweet.
So, to you , with fragrance I entreat
A strange and lonely feeling held my heart
Gripping like some pincers made of steel.
From my beloved, I had had to part
Then numbness folded round me like a wheel.
And quietness loved, has now turned into threat
Nero-like, I fiddle with my tunes
Pie Jesu’s not made top ten yet!
Larks’ ascents aren’t worth much to a loon!
I phoned a friend, her voice did me no good
It echoed in the chambers of my mind
Where metal walls echo the coursing blood
And escalate these feelings so unkind
Though he l loved has gone and is now dead.
I see his face upon my heartless bed
A day as warm and bright as in the Spring
The pine cones shiver in the gentle breeze.
The trees in bud, the birds revel in song .
Our memories cannot store the very thing
The air on skin, the feel of blossom trees
A day as dear with light as is the Spring
On days like this, once more we do belong
And nature will respond to make us pleased
The trees in bud, caressed with new bird song.
The sounds of earth are silenced when phones ring
Our flesh has turned to ashes long deceased
A day can take to flight as does the Spring
We are betrothed, the bridegroom’s in the wings
The new act starts, the play’s by conmen seized
No consummation now, but for the winged
I wish that I had written more to please.
And yet the air is fresh and we still breath
A day of charm may revolution bring
The trees still bud, yet birds rebel in song.
We need to self-deceive to stay alive
To function in this terrifying world
And if no trauma comes we may survive
If we watch the shadows in the cave
We have our story ready to unfold
We need to self-deceive to stay alive
We follow rules on how we must behave
As if into a void we might be hurled
And if no trauma comes we may survive
The adages and proverbs satisfy
Unless we are attacked in our own world,
We cannot self-deceive, are traumatised
We need the hold of friends who’re kind and brave
We need this love that rises when it’s shared
And if love ‘s good enough, we may survive.
We will not scratch our wounds if we are wise.
We will not rush to speech while wounds are bare
We need to self-deceive to stay alive
The words that mother said we can embrace
That we are loved, despite fragmented face
We need to self-deceive to function right
And if no trauma comes we may survive
We live on earth and act in plays we write
The shadowed drama unfolds scene by scene
In Eden, sin brought knowledge to our sight.
Then Freud desired to bring the dark more light
It’s hard to suffer, harder still to learn
We act on earth in plays we partly write
We each have lived in ways without much light
But fire brought power and light then darkness gleamed
In Eden, sin brought knowledge to our sight.
Christ was born, and yet we lived in flight
From guilt about the apple bit unseen
We act on earth in plays we try to write
Our play with good and evil has its might
For meaning’s worthy of our human schemes
In Eden, wrong brought knowing to our sight.
We look and see the Christian story failed.
For the Holocaust itself was not derailed
We live on earth and act in plays we write
The Christian play we had gave slight insight
As refugees, as children drown who fights?
Pray Father, give me some washing.I’ve got Wikileaks and a new obsession.
Tell me more, my child.
I think someone has been inside my computer.
They can’t be human.
Why not, Father?
Well, we are not thin enough to get into the computer.
Ah, they turn themselves into particles and come in with the current
when it’s high tide.
Do you mean tied?
No, Father.I’ve not been reading that book.
Neither have I but in the confessional, I’ve heard it all.
And how does that make you feel?
Why pay to read a fantasy when you can dream up your own?
Some are born dim… others become dim…….
Well, any sins tonight?
I’m so sorry.I was planning to tell a lie but I forgot.
There’s a list of sins in the Missal…
Yes, I’ve not tried most of them yet… just got a pang of anger
when a brick fell on my head.
That’s natural, my child.
Has a brick ever fallen on your head, Father.
Not yet but I’m only 97.
Wow,you look much older.Are you longing to diet?
Why, is there no food in heaven?
I wonder who cooks.
Maybe they live on manna.
Does God eat food
That was one topic we never did in the cemetery.
Do you mean the seminary.
At my age, it’s all one.
You have reached Nirvana….congratulations.
Well.I’d prefer a cup of tea.
You English!
What are you?
I’m a great Dane.
Did you say a grey Dane.
That too.
Well perk up; the show’s not quite over till the gnat really stings.
Do gnats eat string?
String… it’s my passion.Love it or mate it…get involved.
Live a little.
And for your penance… you must have a bath…
Why?
I don’t like the way you smell.
Well,I am a dog.. we like a sniff.Can I borrow your hankey?
Definitely.
I’ll wash it for you.
Well, it’s not over till that gnat gets a sting!
I found my HP Stream upon the shelf
The “Guide to Cumbria” paused in my still hand.
Tidying up does peanuts for the health
It’s an ancient book, yet is my wealth.
The mountains and the moors are my own land
I found a postcard I had sent myself
If I change the sheets, I bless myself
A clean bed is much better when unplanned
Tidying up may aid your mental health
If you do good , do it all by stealth
If you sin then do not tell your friends
I found my laptop screaming uon the shelf
If you need to, always ask for help
What is often borrowed can’t be lent
Tidying up does wonders for the health
If you see a burning bush then quickly bend
Then, from the bare mountaintop, descend
I found my books I lost upon the shelf
Tidying up can startle mice and selves

From Messiah to Hitler, What You Can and Cannot Name Your Child
While reactions to the Messiah order have centred on the questions of religious freedom and free speech, the inspiration behind the name seems to be a common one: the appeal of alliteration. Martin said she thought the name was unique and complemented the names of his two older siblings: Micah and Mason.
Wilting Joe Coward
Bull Goring
Aeons Era Long
Iron Longs4Filings
Izz Rayle Hear.
S. McDeath
Just Call Menne
Will Hugh Shut-Uppe
Bee Quiet.
God-Bless Hugh Dear
Courtesy Queen
Joe Zens Peep-Hole.
Kind Rabid
Yvonne Wolffman-Spaceship.
Pall O’ Stein.
Ami Overjord-Now
Rollin’ Heights
Syria Plath
Ted Who?
Sue I.Sighed
Overa Dose
The street is still, the windows brim with eyes.
Everyone is looking, no-one sees.
These eyes are tainted by their owners’ lies.
As we age, our innocence will die
But saplings grow between the older trees
The street is still, the windows speak by eye.
If the charts were right, the sailors cried.
Eyes gazed out across the unknown seas
These eyes distorted by old, telling lies
A spectacle, a triumph, who and why?
Who displays their riches, who will flee?
The street is still, the windows weep like eyes.
The Arche de Triomphe for the French, I sigh.
Was defeat imagined Victory?
Their thoughts distorted by old worn out lies
Was the blame borne by the true and free?
Who was hanging on the shadowed Tree?
The street is still.Look, window-fulls of eyes.
These dark eyes are crying for their lovers lies

You know, I think I want to go to church again and I must go to Confession before I go to Mass.But the trouble is that when you have no partner your opportunities for committing sins are greatly reduced.Especially if you don’t go out much
You can’t have a row with them about what TV programme to watch or which side of the bed you sleep on nor about whether they pull the duvet off you in the middle of the night.So you can’t blame them when you feel tired.
You can’t get angry when they ask you to wash their trousers again either or about them wearing a cashmere sweater in bed.Also you see less of their relatives and they were always good for producing sins like envy, rage, jealousy and so on.In fact their relatives change and become saintly so it’s even worse.I suppose that might make me sin.
It’s really hard, though, to commit a sin now so I am wondering if I should get a partner purely for the purpose of becoming a sinner who can them be saved by the Sacrament of Confession.I always thought it was odd because if God exists he must know our sins.. in fact he might know more than we do.He must.
With that in mind, I wonder about going into therapy as surely that would make me aware of all the questionable things I have done.Which is better: therapy or getting married? I suppose if I married a rich person they could pay for psychoanalysis for me but it would be a sin to marry purely for that reason.Is that Russell’s Paradox?
Or if I got 2 cats I could be unkind to them and not let them sleep on my bed.But I have to admit I cannot be unkind to cats.And I don’t like dogs in the house.Too much work.You might as well get married again as have a dog to care for.Although dogs don’t wear clothes and can’t shout and scream and demand sex at 3 am.Barking is not quite the same
.I suppose I could become a Quaker instead because it might be tough to find a husband who is happy for me to study Wittgestein and Sylvia’s Wrath.My hair is no longer what it was.. my eyes are still blue but now I have a scar on my face.I thought maybe no-one would notice but the dentist said,
Wow, he’s done a great job hasn’t he? Fantastic, there’s just a little lump here…. what little lump? She’ll have me back in Dermatology as soon as take my teeth out.It was a little lump that began the whole damn business as it was a bit like a Russian Vine invisibly covering [ part of ] my face.Well I can proudly say I had 23 injections of local anaesthetic in my face but the surgeon was very handsome.Greek…
Anyway I went out today with no sun cream on and that is really wicked when you’ve had what I had but the hypothalamus gland needs sunlight so my brother tells me.I have three brothers plus my aide P so I have plenty of men to tell me what to do or not to do.Still you can’t marry your brother can you? I wonder what the priest would say about that.I rest my case.By gum, it was heavy.I’ll take to drink
http://www.bartleby.com/122/2.html
| Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–89). Poems. 1918. |
| 2. Heaven—Haven |
| http://www.bartleby.com/122/2.html |
| A nun takes the veil |
http://www.bartleby.com/122/2.html
|

“Holier than thou” is an interesting phrase.Holiness was a state we were taught we should aim for.But how should we aim for it? Can one become holy by will power?
I suspect not.Though one could be wicked by will power though I suspect most people don’t usually want to be wicked.And I don’t believe babies are born evil as I was taught.But we do wicked things.Pride is often involved.So what are some qualities that may help us to become ,not holy perhaps, but better.The first is one thing doctors have to agree to:
Do no harm.
How can we do no harm? Well paying attention is a possible beginning.If we are not attentive to ourself and the lives around us we don’t have the basis for choosing how to act.Then there is the quality of our perceptions.To a large extent these may have been formed by our experiences in infancy.If we are insecure and anxious we will perceive mainly danger,This leads me to think that we need to gain trust in either God,the Universe,our deeper selves….. something beyond us.If we have little trust we will live on guard and see things in relation to our own safety…..Somehow we will have to move to a wider perception/How many of us truly see others as people who are just as valuable,just as interesting,just as worthy of respect as we are.That when we kill a person physically or emotionally we are killing a whole world.Each person has their own world…..I believe.
If we trust we can perceive and as we perceive so we can act justly, caringly or in the best way possible towards that person.And we hope to receive it back.There is also grace which is a gift… if we live well and are open then grace may come from another source which may help us.But only if we are empty enough for it to come in.Being “full of oneself” is unlikely ro be good.Self forgetting, absorbtion in the other,the world,a task,a creation may be the best part of life.
S
I found it interesting to make a link between being able to be aware of other people as real people like ourselves and being secure in our inner being.That security or trust enables us to have an attitude called,”Submission to the will of God” in Christian teaching.I am sure it is common to many other religions especially Judaism.And for atheists it can be acceptance of reality,
Without trust in others, life is much harder as we are always concerned with keeping ourselves safe.I am not sure how much we can change our attitude from Fear to Trust.And I read today that paranoia is becoming more widespread probably because the government and other people can spy on us easily or find out where we are etc with modern technology
I recall a friend of mine dying when I was 15.We were taken to the Requiem Mass.I just recall the priest saying in the sermon something from the Bible
he Lord has given and the Lord has taken away
Blessed be the name of the Lord.
In other words,we can’t understand.Life and death are a mystery but we accept this is the will of God
At the time I’m not sure if I believed it.But i think acceptance of pain and grief helps us to cope with it even with the terrible suffering with losing a child.I was the last classmate to see her.It was late October.We left school and walked about 1/2 mile.I lived there but she had to then catch a bus fro a 4-mile journey
I still see her smiling face.Eight days later she died.
When you suffer a lot it’s hard to trust God,the Universe and all else.And depending on the circumstances it’s easy to be bitter or vengeful.But that will not help.
What I am wondering is:
How much can we change our attitudes by will power.Pr is there another way of changing?
Changing the way we see something may give us a different attitude.Talking to a good person may help.Sometimes we can only endure patiently.Sometimes God comes to us in the wilderness of tragedy,grief and pain.Because he can get in when we are still and silent.
I suppose going to the desert or on a Retreat may give us the same opportunity.Sometimes we can’t verbalise our suffering but that is not a problem.I found after seeking many ways out that as many people have said:~
The way out is through.
But we struggle like hell to avoid i
I have not written new poems today as I went to the hospital owing to a horrible cough.It was a side effect of the antibiotics and they were not working un any case, so now I have got different ones.I should soon feel ok again
Photos by Mike Flemming today!