Paultwickham.files.wordpress.com



A New Brew

(Paul’s poems from October to Christmas 2018)

1. Amazingly Beautiful

2. Curlew on the Green

3. Engine WARNING LIGHT

4. All Good Things

5. A TRIP TO DONEGAL

6. Another Cecilia

7. A DREADFUL MORNING

8. Marathon CITY MORNING

9. MR NICE GUY?

10. THE SODDEN WOODS

11. Time for a Ponder

12. Leaning on a Gate

13. A Bit of Spring in November

14. December Morning, Turnberry

15. Paradise in Kay’s

16. The JOY is in the RAIN

17. November is Nearly Over 

18. The Fr Molony Effect

19. The CHURCH YEAR ENDS

20. Preparing for Battle 

21. November Morning

22. A SURPRISE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

23. Morning Sky

24. A New Brew

Amazingly Beautiful

(17/11/2018)

A winter morning on Dollymount beach.

Glory. Bright sunlight if winter weak.

Full tide.

Kite surfers frolic in the lively easterly breeze.

A solitary girl wanders the expanse

looking for strange shells.

Must be a foreigner!

The power walkers power walk with their dogs.

Big ships mistily leave Dublin port

and come in to land too.

Howth head stands majestic in the cool November glow.

You can breathe here

Curlew on the Green

(29/10/2018)

Surprised to see a SOLITARY curlew here in howth this morning

on the OPEN green space beside my mother and fathers house.

Evora park.

Maybe DAD IN HEAVEN IS somehow TALKING TO US

THROUGH THIS LONELY Donegal BIRD

USUALLY more AT HOME IN THE BOGS.

She seems a bit lost LOST IN A SUBURBAN

CUL DE SAC

quiet though it is.

Engine WARNING LIGHT

(30/11/2018)

you know that sinking feeling

when a warning light comes on

in your car.

More hassle and maybe more cost.

So how happy i was when the light disappeared today by itself. thank GOD.

it was a false alarm i hope.

How much we live on our nerves these days. and when we get older,

our aching bodies flash out warnings

all the time

All Good Things

(23/10/2018)

After four glorious days here in Vilnius,

the rain  has arrived.

Dark and grey and wintry.

the lovely month of October is nearly over.

the golden sunshine is just a memory.

time to knuckle down to the daily slog again.

i spent too much but no regrets.

thats what holidays are for

A TRIP TO DONEGAL

 (26/10/2018)

Sunshine and showers.

Rainbows over pettigo hills. Mood lift.

Aunty catherine's months mind.

Called into joe's Máire for tea.

Met Pat mc gee. sheila's son from killybegs.

salt of the earth cousin.

And Paddy walsh gentleman.

Uncle charlie holding up. man mountain.

home the long but good road by sligo. Safer.

uncle paul thinks i am mad.

petrol station stops. toilet and grub.

coffee to stay awake.

a hard drive in the dark. dangerous driving tired. wet surface.

home to bed at midnight.

Left Willie at the foxhound. music there on a friday night.

God always protects him, he told me.

Another Cecilia

I will always remember my beloved aunty Sheila

singing around the house

and keeping herself cheerful

even though she was in terrible pain with her back.

St Cecilia, the early Roman martyr sang, while they killed her

The Patron of Music

and the joy that music brings

A DREADFUL MORNING

(7/11/2018)

Coming off night duty at 8am.

Dark. Wet. Miserable.

Last week at this time we had a glorious sunrise.

A bright sky.

But this week, it’s all gloom and it’s cold too.

November was never my favourite month.

and now I remember why!

but at least in just a little while

I will be cosy at the fire at home

getting ready to go and give CANON RAY

A GOOD SEND OFF.

IT’S A LOT MORE CHEERFUL WHERE HE IS NOW 

Marathon CITY MORNING

(28/10/2018- ST JUDE)

NICE AND BRIGHT. NO WIND. DRY.

IDEAL CONDITIONS TO RUN TWENTY SIX MILES.

THE WAVES OF CONTESTANTS PLOW PAST THE FIRST WATER STATION

AT MANOR STREET.

ALL COLOURS AND SHAPES.

GAILY DRESSED UP FOR MANY DIFFERENT CAUSES.

INTERNATIONAL.

THE HUMAN RACE. NOT A RAT RACE.

OUR NATURAL COMMON BOND IS THAT WE ALL KNOW

WE ARE GOING SOMEWHERE.

MR NICE GUY?

(22/11/2018)

I have been grounded this week

with a nasty chest infection

and feel in really foul humour.

i was ratty already with my wife this morning.

Too used to a life of comfort maybe?

THE SODDEN WOODS

(17/12/2018)

THE WOODS ARE VERY DREARY NOW.

SOAKED IN RAIN AND DAMPNESS.

THE WEARY DARKNESS DEEPENS

BUT ONLY FOR A FEW MORE DAYS.

NO WONDER THE BIRDS STILL MANAGE TO CALL OUT

THEIR CHEERY YULETIDE EVENSONG.

THIS FRIDAY THE DAYS BEGIN

TO BRIGHTEN AGAIN

Time for a Ponder

(21/12/2018)

The old silent stone church in Baldoyle

has stood steady for 150 years.

since famine times.

interestingly it’s the only church i know that is not carpeted now.

Outside, the CHRISTMAS RUSH traffic buzzes selfishly by. organised chaos.

As Amos says we have another kind of famine

HARD TO FEED MINDS THAT CAN'T

AND WON'T LISTEN TO THE MUSIC OF HOPE.

The overwhelming noise of our greedy busyness

drowns the voices of truth

"Be content with what you have"  

Leaning on a Gate

(16/12/2018)

Hanging around Cavan town for the afternoon.

Sunday.

just before CHRISTMAS 2018.

the winter sun is setting over a drumlin.

It's damp as usual but not raining, thank GOD.

the sky is clear,

HOPEFUL…..

THOSE EVER BREWING global storm clouds

still don't impact on the GREEN BOGGY

Pastoral Peace of Middle Ireland

too much

A Bit of Spring in November

(22/11/2018)

after two wild wet and very cold days,

the birds are singing again this afternoon.

the air is cool but mild.

the sky is bright and uplifting.

translucent.

you would almost think it was spring.

I am sure St Cecilia is singing too today.

December Morning, Turnberry

(SFX day 3-12-18, Dad’s Anniversary)

nice bright morning. not cold. breathable.

the birds sound happy enough.

though food must be getting a bit scarce for them now.

we all get a bit empty of inspiration

at this lonely time of year. 

Hungry for love

Paradise in Kay’s

(9/11/2018)

sheltering in clare hall shopping centre

from a wild night out there.

howling wind and lashing rain.

thank GOD for Tescos.

Clean loos and somewhere comfortable

to sit down and have a cup of tea

and a sandwich.

the woman beside me says

"the poor homeless people.

it does not bear thinking about"

The JOY is in the RAIN

(23/12/2018)

Some people think sunshine makes you happy

but it's really love that makes you happy.

when it’s cold and dark and raining,

our families pull together

and help each other.

Love in the family is good news

as Good Pope Francis says.

Love in the rain.

Like the healing joy of a bright warm fireside

when it's really miserable outside.

November is Nearly Over 

(24/11/2018) 

Buying a coffee and using the loo 

in Mc donalds in north side 

shopping centre. 

It was a really miserable morning 

but it’s clearing up nicely now.

Christmas songs are playing already

and it seems all wrong.

But then again,

anything is better than the gloom 

of November. 

So, may the festivities roll on.

The Fr Molony Effect

(7/11/2018)

I went to pay respects to Canon Ray

in Sutton church this morning.

His funeral mass was to be at 10am.

I arrived early in heavy miserable gloomy rain

and listened to the combined Howth and Sutton choir

warming up.

I had to get home to bed before mass started

after my nursing night duty but, amazingly,

as I left the church,

the sun was shining beautifully.

A Ray of Hope

The CHURCH YEAR ENDS

(28/11/2018)

NOVEMBER BLASTS IT'S WAY OUT

WITH A VENGEANCE.

REAL WINTER HAS SET IN

YET NOW WE BEGIN OUR CIRCLING YEAR AGAIN, ADVENT, CHRISTMAS. LENT AND EASTER AND THE LONG HAUL OF ORDINARY LIFE

TO CHRIST THE COMING KING AGAIN.

IN THE DARKNESS OF THIS WILD WET

COLD DARK WEATHER,

A GENTLE LIGHT IS BORN 

Preparing for Battle 

(24/11/2018) 

The karate lads have grown tall. 

Five years ago they were just kids.

Now they are on the brink 

of manhood. 

Like all those hopeful boys 

who went to fight 

in the first world war.

A hundred years ago

(Inclusive Karate Ashbourne Centre)

November Morning

(15/11/2018)

Quite mild if breezy

Nice sunlight with some beautiful sunshine

Good for walking.

After some really miserable wet winter weather,

it's a pleasant change.

Ireland always keeps you guessing.

St Albert's day.

Wasn't Einstein a great Albert too?

A SURPRISE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

(12/12/2018 Guadalupe day)

Parking near Baldoyle church, The new ‘Larrier’ church,

to rest a minute and say a prayer.

We all need to catch our Advent breath at times

in this hectic season of busy bustle

Spotted the daffodil shoots in a sunny corner.

it has been mild enough and no frost

so hence these pioneer buds.

Hope can seem a bit naive at times

Morning Sky

(10/12/2018)

Parked at Portmarnock.

Looking out over Howth head and Ireland’s eye

in radiance.

Bathed in a lovely calm December glow.

Such a beautiful light.

Thank GOD for eyes to see the beauty

and for peace in myself enough

to be able to stop and look a while.

With the gaze of love

A New Brew

I went to make tea this morning as usual.

Sometimes I just add boiling water to the pot

left over and well stewed on the oven ring

from yesterday

and just throw in a couple of tea bags

for a bit more flavour

But, today, I threw out the old tea bags

and started afresh

A new pot of tea

for a New Year

(2019)

Big Thanks to God and our Lady

and to my beloved mother, Mary,

who is fighting a very brave fight now

and my lovely wife, Maura,

who puts up with a lot!

(Christmas day 2018)

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download