tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-299353652024-03-13T16:06:13.990+00:00Naomi's BlogBits & Pieces about This & That gathered together from Here & There mostly by MyselfNaomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.comBlogger118125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-12211621749497628352018-03-11T11:08:00.003+00:002018-03-11T14:05:45.676+00:00Tears of Love<style type="text/css">
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Of your charity,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">oh my Lord,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">let me weep.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">For tears touched<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">by the magic of sunlight<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">become diamonds,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">and golden memories</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">light up my dark road.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">In your compassion,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">oh my Lady,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">let me flourish<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">like a Chinese plum tree</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">that blooms in winter,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">flowers of pink and red,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">bright with bitter ice</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">melting into love.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">I offer you thanks,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">oh my Father,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">for your sweet angel</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">who led me away</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">from self destruction</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">to a great high plain,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">where the circle whirls</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">and life has no ending.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">My spirit may rest now,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">your heart in mine,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">and mine in yours.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Washed by soft tears,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">my eyes will no more</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">recognise deep despair,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">for here is the place</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">of everlasting love.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s2"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span><span class="s1"><i> Naomi</i></span></span></div>
<br />Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-49314139356578949662018-03-11T11:00:00.002+00:002018-03-11T11:00:18.410+00:00The Blood-Sweeten'd Beverage
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">The Blood-Sweeten’d Beverage</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Bristol Tea Parties 1778</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">So many words desperate and tumbling</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">but failing to achieve any clear meaning</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">in a city of slaves and of teatime protesting</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">telling the horrors of of savage dogs hunting.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Rust sailed galleys and black hearts pounding,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">shackles clanking and brain shattered yearning</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">for freedom ebbing away on the tide lapping</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">on shingle and shell and never returning.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Gown black preacher earnestly preaching</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">pleading for freedom but the wrack is turning</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">its iron cold hands in the ache of an evening</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">to smother the shame of a master’s objecting.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">But still the tea party’s challenge is thriving</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">in the cold dark of a city’s feigned weeping.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4">
<span class="s1"><i></i></span> <i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">Naomi</span></i></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p5">
<span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>Bristol traders were at the heart of the C18 slave-trade,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>as were the many fierce Bristol objectors to the hated trade. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>In 1778 Hannah Moore a Bristol teacher and passionate anti slaver,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>a friend of both William Wilberforce and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Thomas Clarkson,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>joined<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>the organised boycott of slave-produced West Indian sugar,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><i>thus avoiding any contact with what the poet Robert Southey<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i>later described as “…the blood-sweeten’d beverage…” <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></i></span></div>
<br />Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-62103090102326872562017-10-09T11:55:00.000+01:002017-10-09T11:55:02.136+01:00St Martin's Summer<i>Broadstairs, Autumn 2017</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
Today the fierce heat of high noon<br />
is gone like feathers in the wind,<br />
wheeling and dancing bravely into<br />
the chill sea fret outside my window,<br />
while circling gulls are crying out<br />
for bright summer to return once more.<br />
<br />
Turnstone birds have already flown south<br />
from the winter of their Arctic home,<br />
a thousand or more windswept miles each day,<br />
to find here beneath seaweed and stones<br />
a welcome feast of mollusc and shrimp,<br />
their own unique St Martin's Summer.<br />
<br />
Come Autumn we too feel the warmth<br />
and comfort of this holy season,<br />
for the Saint has split his cloak once more<br />
to share with a shivering beggar,<br />
cast off his armour and sheafed his sword,<br />
radiant with love, compassion and peace.<br />
<br />
October's dark clouds are pierced with gold,<br />
and our souls overflow with the Saint's love.<br />
The brightening sky sings out in praise<br />
for the man who, with gentle hands held high,<br />
comforts us, blesses us and prays for us.<br />
God be praised for Saint Martin de Tours.<br />
<br />
<i>Naomi</i><br />
<br />
<br />Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-12885784244781741782017-03-17T01:05:00.001+00:002017-08-30T11:38:37.621+01:00March Hares<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">I met an old man in my wanderings,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with thin grey hair and pale aged eyes, </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">who smiled at me as we passed</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">through the kissing gate at the end </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of the path down from the high town.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">By his side a dog of indiscriminate </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">parentage, brown inquisitive face, </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">ragged ears, eyes as dark and deep</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as waves which caress the old jetty.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">His nose pushed into my hand, he</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">bestowed wet kisses on my fingers.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“Privileged creatures dogs - further </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">than a mere man would dare go</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with a stranger.” his master said.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">He blew me a kiss and went away </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">whistling a sad haunting tune,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but his step was brisk and the set</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of his head that of a happy man. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">On a bank at the edge of a field</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">newly greened beneath the wall </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of the old town, two hares boxed</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">on the March snow dusted turf.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They circled, hind legs erect, </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">feet en demi point, long ears</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">akimbo, front legs curved high</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into the sky, two peasant dancers </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in a dizzy rural pas de deux</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">whirling, bobbing, wheeling, </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">then subdued he bowed to her,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and docile followed after her. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 13px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I watched them, two brown</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">snowflakes, Eostre’s children</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">who melted away invisible </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">among the old trees, their once</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">exuberant presence marked </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">only by faint tracks in the snow. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I stood at the open graveside</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">where the old man lay in his coffin,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">his small brown dog beside me</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">long nose resting on brown paws.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">‘Eternal rest grant unto him</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Light perpetual shine upon him’</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">The dog, sighing, licked my hand. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Together we walked the path </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">down from the old high town,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">past the old dark forest where</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">young leverets sleep and play</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and white wood anemones bloom.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal; min-height: 14px;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">On to the beach amongst the</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">blue sea holly and grey leafed kale</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">are two new March Hares running</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">headlong into the new spring sun.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Brown Dog barks, and chases </span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a flock of teetering sandpipers,</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">while I hold up my arms to</span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">radiant Phoebus, dazzling symbol </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">of Love and Light come again.</span><br />
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i> Naomi</i></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-22314776001155676162016-12-18T00:46:00.000+00:002017-03-17T01:11:45.775+00:00<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>A tenebris ad lucem</b></span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>From darkness to light</i></span></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">"And so my dearest Aunt I have to tell you</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">I have been given an old manuscript</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">of <i>A Tenebris ad Lucem</i>, which I must study</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">eating my way through its covers and leaves.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Its oak boards would be my book cover of choice,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"> but on each vellum leaf of text the miniatures </span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"> of bright malachite and lapis lazuli, </span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">of gold and cinnabar, show stories so shocking</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">that it seems I am embarking on a journey</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">through a land of diabolical horrors.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">"I walk now in a dark forest where dense foliage</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">overwhelms the light, and the stony path</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">leads only into a miasma of despair.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">I peer out between massive trees to see</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">a site both of tragedy and savage beauty.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">A great wall of water, Leviathan risen</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">from the ocean, pounds inexorably across</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">the land destroying everything in its path,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">whole villages smashed, animals and men</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">tossed into the air like feathers in the wind.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">"Across endless fields of battle, I hear nations</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">mourning their dead, the flowers of many forests</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">are cut down and shattered by mine and gun,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">enemies attack in an unseemly dance</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">of cracking sinew, hot blood and broken bone.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">The little Forest Owlet cries out for his home</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">disappeared under the blade of an illicit axe,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">an Amoy Tiger roars in vain for his lost mate</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">while a single Great Humped Back Whale sings</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">his eerie threnody to a long empty sea.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">"It is as if all the oppressed and dispossessed</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">of this land are gathered at my back with </span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">voices raised in a great Anthem of Destruction</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">which almost completely overwhelms me.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Numb, I shrink back into my orange shell,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">fold my six legs and await my gruesome fate.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">But the dark canopy falls away and tall figures</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">clothed in light glide across a sunlit plain,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">proclaiming that love alone heals loss and sorrow,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">and brings fresh hope into a world of fear.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">"Boys who once carried rifles on their shoulders</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">play again in green fields beside the river,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">the starving and the homeless are sheltered and fed,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">prisoners are set free and old enemies embrace.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">An Amoy Tigress comes out of the forest</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">two new cubs playing like kittens around her heels,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">flowers wash the ground where blood once was spilled,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">eager saplings spring from craters of devastation. </span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">It is a new song this shining world now sings,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">a soaring Hosannah of love and joy.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">"I make my way along the path through soft grass</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">into the golden light of a new day, </span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">through the final leaf of my book to find</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">the old oak board, gateway back to my home.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">As I pass the figures of light, one with eyes</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">deep and dark as the waters of Bethesda,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">gives me a blessing and I see that his wrists</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">are deeply scarred where nails were driven through.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">And I bow low to this Man of Light and Peace.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"> Meanwhile,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">I remain as ever your most affectionate nephew,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Apollonius Bostrichus Capucinus”</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div class="p1" style="text-align: right;">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Naomi</i></span></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-86269437833728061262016-12-18T00:43:00.003+00:002016-12-18T00:48:27.389+00:00<br />
<div class="p4" style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Baskerville Old Face"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;">
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<div class="p1" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="p1" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The Mark of Love</span></b></div>
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</div>
</div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">He sits in my bleak cold garden</span></div>
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<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">perched lordly on the old oak table.</span></div>
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</div>
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<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">He does not move but stares unblinking,</span></div>
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<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">not asking but demanding more</span></div>
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</div>
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<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">of the flame raisins he has found</span></div>
</div>
</div>
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<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">in the cracked old Japanese bowl.</span></div>
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</div>
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<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I watch him as he cocks his head</span></div>
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<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">turning from one side to the other,</span></div>
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</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">the dark eyes intelligent and sharp</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">reminding me of the rare talents</span></div>
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</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and avian persistence lodged</span></div>
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</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">in this small being of brown and red.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“I am the little bird” he says,</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“who, come the Spring, pours out his song</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">like a nightingale in the hedgerow</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">singing beneath the silver moon,</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">rich notes ringing through the warm night</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">to summon my love back to our nest.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“But once I flew into a cold stable</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">where a swaddled new born baby lay.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Ox and donkey slept soundly there, </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">while the baby shivered in his bed</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and his mother stretched out her soft hand</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">to caress my brown feathered coat.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">‘Bird’ she said, ‘can you rebuild the fire?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">For the night is icy and I fear</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">for my baby so helpless and so young.’</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I flapped my wings like small bellows</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and sang to her until the flames</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">leaped like fiery darts into the sky</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“Consumed with a rare love for the child,</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">too close I went to the roaring fire</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and the dull brown feathers of my coat</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">smouldered blood red bright in the darkness.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">But the boy smiled in a deep sleep</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and his mother offered me her thanks.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">“She looked tenderly at my burned</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">feathers, and blessed me with a kiss</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">to set as a seal upon my heart.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I have fought for my territory,</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and beak stabbed my feathered brothers</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">but still I carry the Lady’s mark of love.”</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I remember now his constant harrying </span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">of the hungry Blue Tits, but how</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">can I resist those pleading eyes?</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">So I fill up the old bowl with fruit.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">and, as he sits beside me to take it,</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">‘God bless you my little Red Breast’ I pray.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3" style="color: black; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i> Naomi</i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-45530900873466290272016-10-29T15:55:00.000+01:002016-10-29T15:55:05.694+01:00Remembrance<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Two Poppies</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">At the beginning of November</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">I bought two poppies.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">One, with its blood red petals sharp edged symbols </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">of pain and death, its thin green drooping leaf and wiry stalk </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">wound about with flimsy ribbons of dull green plastic, </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">I pinned into my button hole. </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">The other flower, soft and white like a velvet star in the sky,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">I pinned above my heart, and asked the God of Mercy</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">to lead us in our search for peace.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Waking to the dawning of the eleventh day </span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">of the eleventh month,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">I looked up at a sky where the sun wove</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">thick reddening clouds into an empyrean landscape</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">of poppies, mimicking dark fields saturated</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">with the life blood of men who, like early rotting corn</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">untimely harvested, lay scattered across the fields of death.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Beneath this wine red canopy, I asked the God of Hope</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">that he might bring us out of darkness into light.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">of the eleventh month</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">I stood not in a church, nor beside a cenotaph,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">but on a bitter cold cliff rising high above the coast of Kent.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">There when I listened to the wind I heard the echoing thud of guns,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">there in the rain I felt on my hands warm rivulets of blood,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">there, as I remembered them and honoured them,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">I wept for all those who died, for every widow who mourned,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">and for every sorrowing fatherless child.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Our world today is still wracked with unceasing bloody slaughter,</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">and in the name of the Man of Peace I ask the God of Love</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">that we may some day offer to all our enemies</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">the gentle white poppy of peace.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Amen So may it be</span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-78515641129534436372016-09-18T00:03:00.001+01:002016-09-18T00:03:32.686+01:00Fragments of Time<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
A young shepherd, leading his sheep,</div>
<div class="p1">
climbed the mountain to see a bush</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">burning perpetually bright,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">heard in his heart the voice of God:</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">'Moses, you are chosen to lead</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">my people to their Promised Land.'</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Lightning flashed in the searing heat</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">and choking dust on the long road</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">from Jerusalem to Damascus,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">where Saul became Paul, and met</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">with his God in the thin place</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">between earth and eternity.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Blake in his mind’s eye saw a world</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">complete in a speck of warm sand </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">and Heaven in a cool primrose, </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">a microcosm of Creation</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">neither a dream nor a nonsense,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">but a gift from almighty God.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Some seventy odd years ago</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">on the wings of an unseen bird</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">a blind man flew up in the sky</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">to sing with the stars and dance </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">again in the streets of heaven,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">there to touch the face of his God.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
A child on the hillside opened <span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">a window into Paradise</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">where the sun shines eternally,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
but she was afraid that soon she</div>
<div class="p1">
must die and never find again</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">this fragment of time out of time. </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But the fragment is eternal</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">and bleak despair slowly departs,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">as she comes to understand that</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">in the mystery of his presence </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">the soul may find eternal joy</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">in the glory and love of God.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Amen So may it be</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"> <i>Naomi</i></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-86209423980166540182016-07-27T11:05:00.002+01:002017-03-17T01:10:17.869+00:00Into this bright morning<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Into this bright morning </span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">when birds are singing</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">may I walk with God;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When worry and confusion </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">attack at noon day</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">may I talk with God;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the heat of the afternoon</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">weary already of the day</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">may I put my trust in God;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the cool of the evening</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">as the light fades from the sky</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">may I give praise to God;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In the kindly dark of the night</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">may my soul take its rest </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">in the heart and love of God.</span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Naomi</i></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-41410178900729494832016-07-21T10:11:00.000+01:002016-07-21T16:40:40.549+01:00<b>I Name this Slug ... </b><br />
<i>or,<b> After the Referendum</b></i><br />
<br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I found a slug in my garden</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">this dull grey morning;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
an undulating brown body</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">this damp grey morning;</span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">with swivel eyes and evil smile</span></div>
this cold grey morning;<span class="s1"></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">shouting loud his success to all</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">this bleak grey morning;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">offering the world to his clan</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">this dire grey morning;</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">his very presence an insult</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">this sad grey morning.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Oh unloved and unlovely slug,</span></div>
I think your name is Nigel.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Naomi</i></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">June 23rd 2016</span></i></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-75039762937025717042016-07-09T11:56:00.000+01:002016-07-09T11:59:09.895+01:00The Red Kite<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b>Milvus milvus - the Red Kite, Wales 1980</b></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">I stand, still as a stone in the dark shadows</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">leaning my back against the rough cottage wall,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">spellbound by the unfolding drama above</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">where the Red Kites hover in the sunlit sky.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Circling on the upward thermal they keep guard</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">above the oak tree where they have made their home,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">a wide nest of stout twigs lined with soft sheep wool,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">a first brood for this cwm since many a year.<i> </i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">The cock bird flies high, then dives toward the nest</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">his long slim body like some bronze feathered spear,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">pale grey head, then russet sleek to wide forked tail.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Golden eyes searching out dangers threatening,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">he scans the sky for crows, ready to defend</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">the high empty nest against their predations,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">looking for humans who hide in the bracken</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">with sinister khaki canvas collecting bags.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">But, just one small old man, deerstalker hatted</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">sits on a small stool near the foot of the tree,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">today’s sentry to keep safe the precious pair,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">no black crows intruding, no thieves lie waiting.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As the Kites settle down, more dangers will come,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">illegal poisons, and arrogant hunters</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">who see themselves as the lords of creation</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">presuming mere birds to be their rightful prey</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As our Kites rise together on the thermal</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">they dance in a circle of love, fluttering,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">mewing and calling to announce their union,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">for Red Kites are loyal and will pair for life.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">For forty long days she will sit on her eggs</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">while he takes care of her and hunts for their food,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">fresh fish and a rabbit, mole-crickets and frogs.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">An earthly marriage, but one made in heaven.</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">Watching the Red Kites, their pinioned elegance,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">their muted dignity and effortless flight,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">reminds me that a bird may be a miracle </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">whose beauty can outshine that of a woman,</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">with loyalty greater than that of a man.</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">As they rise upwards towards the sun I pray </span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">that we may love these our brothers and sisters</span></div>
for all earth’s creatures are the children of God.<br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Naomi </i></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-87430482955927262102016-06-14T14:49:00.004+01:002016-06-28T09:30:33.988+01:00Working for the Church<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><b>Working for the Church</b></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i>Who sweeps a room as for thy laws,</i></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i> Makes that and th’action fine. </i></span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i> George Herbert </i></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">In 1947 I had had my first sight of what Ruskin described as "… out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have." My father drove us up from Hertfordshire past the airy fancifulness of Ely Cathedral’s Octagon and the solid masculinity of Peterborough Cathedral and there on the long straight Roman Road from Sleaford to Lincoln standing out on top of the Castle Hill the triple towers of Lincoln Cathedral rode the horizon like a great stone galleon just out of port. The excitement of that first sighting and the overwhelming sense of wonder at its etherial grace have never diminished, but little did I know then that, some 27 years later, the city of Lincoln would become my home and the cathedral my most loved and exciting place of work.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span></div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>The Dean and Chapter’s 10,000 printed books and nearly 300 medieval manuscripts were housed largely above the north aisle of the Cloister in a lovely classical gallery designed by Christopher Wren - the young architect’s first library. The new gallery led out of the only remaining bay of the earlier half-timbered medieval library room. Two hundred and thirty years later a pleasant two storey Edwardian library annex was added to the east of the medieval library and it it was here I had my very commodious office and the more modern working books were housed. The manuscripts and printed books kept upstairs in the Wren Library were fascinating, often amazingly beautiful, frighteningly rare, and some of them literally priceless.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>My masters, the Dean and Residentiary Canons, all dead now, were good men, hard working and full of fun, albeit in the case of the scholarly Sub-Dean somewhat dry and ecclesiastical. My colleagues were the virgers, Cecil the Chapter Clerk, Albert the gentle carpenter, Roger the Deputy Organist, Tony the raucous electrician, George the aged cadaverous cleaner and clock winder, and Mr Jahn my elderly sub-Librarian, he of the ill fitting false teeth and a kindness of heart above the price of rubies. All of them made me welcome and, all too often, nudged me along the path of hilarious chaos.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Visitors to the Library were made welcome, and over the years their numbers greatly increased. I had been to a conference where one of the principal speakers, the Dean of St Paul’s, had exhorted his audience of Cathedral librarians, archivists and keepers of ecclesiastical treasures to “Make your libraries and your Treasuries a part of your mission.” I never forgot this, and entertaining and educating visitors became a main stay of my work. My clients varied from groups of children often from primary schools to professional librarians, from local clubs and civic organisations, to individual scholars of national and international reputation.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>When I had first arrived at the Cathedral I knew very little about old and rare printed books and manuscripts. Well to be absolutely honest, I knew almost nothing at all. But I read widely, assiduously attended courses and conferences, drew extensively on the expertise and advice always so generously offered by a variety of senior persons from the British Museum, the British Library and the other great national libraries, as well as some of the small highly specialist institutions, and eventually went back part time to university to study and formally qualify as a full time librarian and archivist. As time went on I became increasingly competent in my new trade, and my talks and lectures began to sound authoritative, even if their foundations had been laid on the sands of ignorance. I enjoyed working with any group or individual visitor who turned up by appointment at the door to the medieval library, but nothing gave me more pleasure than the visits from teachers and children, some as young as seven years old and from as far away as Oxford or London. These particular visits I felt were a very special part of my mission within the Cathedral. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>The young students’ interests ranged from why are books always that shape Miss, to why are so many of them in a funny language, to who were the scribes who wrote and illustrated the wonderful manuscripts and what did they get out of it? Books are that shape, I explained, because if you skin a sheep or other animal whose skin is going to be made into the leaves of a book, once the legs, tail and head are cut away you will invariably have an approximately 3:2 rectangle of vellum which however many times you fold it will remain a rectangle. The only general exception I can think of to this rule of thumb is the quarto - the second folding - which tends to be almost a square, far from the 3:2 proportions. Until late in the seventeenth century Latin was still commonly used as the language both of the Catholic Church and amongst scholars throughout Europe, reflecting a certain universalism both in religion and learning. There were professional secular scribes and printers who worked to earn an honest penny, and monks who devoted the whole of their working lives to the greater glory and understanding of almighty God, whether by tending the sick and the poor, labouring in the fields or turning their monasteries into centres of contemplation and study rooted in their ever expanding libraries. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>For me one particularly memorable visit was made by a group of Cambridge librarians who had booked in for the group's annual summer outing. They had planned a quick tour of the Cathedral, a good lunch at The Wig and Mitre, and then a fairly lengthy session with me in the Wren Library. This, their secretary wrote, “will be the High Point of our day.” I was not so sure about this High Point. A coven of Cambridge librarians could include, and usually did include almost anyone from the most humble of issue clerks working in one of the city’s small branch libraries to the Director of the great University Library. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>However I laid out a good number of manuscripts and printed books, the centre piece of which was a gigantic volume - one of a series of three volumes of maps published in Amsterdam in 1647. Like most custodians of a small rare books library I had had to learn a little about a great number of things, but I had become especially interested in old maps, particularly the marvellously engraved, exquisitely hand-coloured works of the Dutch cartographers and colourists. Each map lay within a multi coloured decorated frame; small wind cherubs blew into horns made of shells; miniature boats beat across the oceans giving a wide birth to schools of whales and amazingly savage sea monsters; and a caravan of tiny camels marched eternally across North Africa. The colouring of the plates was exquisite almost beyond belief. My lecturette on the techniques of sixteenth and seventeenth century mapmaking and illustration had, I felt, become the best item in my repertoire. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>The Cambridge group, well fortified against the rigours of the afternoon by the strong ale of The Wig and Mitre duly arrived and set out to enjoy its collective self. Towards the end of a long and lively session, I ushered the party to the map table where, completely intoxicated by the force and brilliance of my own rhetoric, I delivered what seemed to me a dazzling account of the lives and times of the Amsterdam cartographers, colourists and publishers. I was particularly flattered by the open-mouthed attention and admiration shewn by a very respectable navy suited middle-aged gentleman who from time to time added most helpful comments to my peroration. Eventually the various members of the party took themselves away down the Library stairs and meandered slowly out into the calm of a late summer afternoon. I stopped the only member of the group whom I actually knew, a young whiz kid from the University Library whom I had met the previous Easter at a course in the University of Leeds.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>“Who,” I asked “is that nice chap who seemed so interested in the Blaeu maps?”</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">He smiled, a mixture of patronage and sarcasm spreading across his face.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>“That nice chap” he said “is the Director of the University Map Room. You could learn a lot from him.” I certainly had.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span></div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span class="s1"><div style="text-align: left;">
Amongst our manuscripts was an anthology compiled in the fifteenth century by Robert Thornton landowner of the manor of East Newton, Stonegrave in the North Riding of Yorkshire. Thornton appears to have made this collection of Middle English literature - various Arthurian romances including the long alliterative poem <i>Morte Arthure,</i> religious and medical works - for the use and pleasure of his family as well as for himself. This manuscript miscellany was very large, came to Lincoln perhaps towards the end of the seventeenth century, was exceptionally rare with some unique items and had been very heavily used. To compound its agony, it had been very tightly rebound in the 1830’s and was in an extremely poor and now almost unusable condition. A work so prized by scholars had I believed to be properly conserved and rebound so that it could safely be used again. </div>
<span class="Apple-tab-span"></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>With money eventually in place and the agreement of the Dean and Chapter I began to look for a really top class binder/conservator to whom the work could be entrusted. My search eventually led me to Sandy Cockerell, one of the most skillful and distinguished conservators and binders of the twentieth century who ran his world famous bindery in Grantchester not far away from Lincoln. Sandy did not really like priests, with the exception of one of his sons in law and Victor de Waal the Canon Chancellor of Lincoln, but he did love and respect the stream of extraordinary ecclesiastical manuscripts which continually flowed into his bindery seeking their own particular salvation. Thus began my wonderful friendship with Sandy and his wife Elizabeth and the most fruitful period of my professional career. The volume was to go backwards and forwards between Lincoln and Grantchester and then to travel disbound in an old but reinforced waterproof zip up shopping bag on the train with me from Lincoln to the Scolar Press at Ilkley for specialised photography ready for the publication of a great facsimile edition. I had some excellent days out and some very good lunches in its company. </span></div>
</div>
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<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>For me, one of the most satisfying of my projects at Lincoln was the successful setting up of a permanent Library Exhibition in the small medieval library room, open each afternoon throughout the spring and summer months, secure, discretely housed and lit, and staffed by enthusiastic and well trained volunteers. These were local folk usually well able to help visiting rare books librarians and keepers of manuscripts as well as entertaining the casual visitor who had just wondered if it were possible to have a look round and perhaps ask a few questions about the rare and beautiful volumes on display. </span></div>
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<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>The centre piece of this exhibition was to be the show casing of the Cathedral’s exemplar of Magna Carta, one of the only four known extant copies remaining from the many exemplars circulated in 1215 after King John had capitulated in the face of the lords spiritual and temporal of England. The Lincoln exemplar is, in appearance, a rather insignificant document, but it has still an enormous significance in the hearts and minds of English speaking peoples. Since its rediscovery in a chest in the nineteenth century Chapter Clerk’s office it has exercised this emotional power over thousands of visitors to the Cathedral and on the many more thousands who have had the opportunity to gaze at it on temporary display both in Australia and the USA.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Before the Charter could be displayed in the Library there were months of discussion, constant comings and goings by experts in conservation, in the protection of priceless and irreplaceable objects and in the safe transport of such objects. The Charter was to go in a few months time to the USA to tour the West coast. There was a great expenditure of money most of it provided by the Standard Chartered Bank the sponsors of the American expedition, largely at the discretion of a delightful young director, one John Major.</span></div>
</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Eventually an absolutely monumental display case was designed, fireproof, waterproof, burglar proof and bomb proof, and with base and lid protected in every way. The resulting edifice besides being to my mind incredibly ugly was also unbelievably heavy. To raise the lid there was a fairly simple counter-weight system which after an initial tug at the handle hauled itself up or let itself down with alarming speed. So that in careless or criminal hands this device should not become some macabre ecclesiastical guillotine, the lid when open was locked in place by an enormous padlock, for which there was only one key which was always in the possession of myself or my Deputy. </span></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>The day before the Grand Opening of the Exhibition the Dean, the Canon Chancellor and I did a dry run, opening and shutting the case several times until the bell rang for Evensong and I was left alone with my baby in its wide open case. I had to put the finishing touches to the rest of the exhibition, lock the case, set all the Library alarms and go home. But I did not seem to have about my person the key to the padlock. Although the case was permanently protected by a special wired-direct-to-the-nick alarm, the security experts had decreed that while the lid was open the Library must always be attended by a member of staff who should never be more than a few feet away from the also wired-direct-to-the-nick panic button. I did not relish the prospect of sitting up all night beside the open lid and the panic button.</span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Having decided to share the problem and perhaps the responsibility as well, I picked up the phone and dialled.</span></div>
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<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “The Deanery”. The unmistakable dark brown voice of the Dean.</span></div>
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<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “Oliver,” I said, “some unprintable person has pinched the key to my padlock and I can’t shut the case.”</span></div>
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<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “I am that unprintable person, and your key is sitting right here on my desk. Would you care to come over and collect it, and take a glass of sherry?”</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>For several seasons several thousand pairs of feet had trekked up the Library stairs to view the Exhibition and Magna Carta. And had trekked down again. Great quantities of dust had been raised and had become impacted in the cracks of the old treads until the whole area looked very neglected and uninviting. George the Clockwinder who was also the cleaner seemed to be saving all his energies for his daily foray up the South West Tower to tend his beloved clock, and not a lot of cleaning was being done. There was a simple solution to the problem - do it myself. I assembled soap, cloths, brush and bucket, and made a start. It was very hard work, and the staircase was very long. Suddenly a voice boomed behind me: “Good morning ma’am.”</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>I was so startled that I dropped the brush into the bucket and showered myself with disgusting grimy water. I stood up, turned round and looked up into the face of a tall elegantly dressed American. He wore a pale pink shirt with very fine gold cufflinks, pale grey trousers and pale grey patent shoes.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “Yes?” I said.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “Dr Julius Finkelheim ma’am. I have an appointment with the Librarian. Can you tell me where I might locate him?”</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">I wiped my filthy hands on the seat of my scruffy jeans and drew myself up to my full height of five foot one.</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “Dr Finkelheim” I said, “I am he … I mean she. And in case you are wondering, I am also the Chief Library Scrubber!” </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Looking back now on some of these memories I am struck by the abiding underlying importance of the Cathedral and of everything that was provided and undertaken there. It was not a place where saints dwelt in gilded cages, it was a family with all the substrata of bickering and misunderstandings and old grudges experienced by any ordinary family. But the Cathedral community itself was supportive and loving to its members, righteous and rogue alike. It was supportive of individuals, alms and advice were given, confessions were heard and souls were eased of some of their burden of guilt. Strangers were comforted and the hungry fed. It was supportive of the community at large. The building was available for concerts, drama, dance - sacred or profane. Visitors of every nationality and religion and none were made welcome, it was a vital bustling place yet with space enough for quiet contemplation, for meeting with friends, for respite from the darkness and the unhappiness of a cold and uncaring world. And it was so often a place of laughter. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Most of us discovered that any work, however humble, if it were for the good of the religious community, for the building, for the wider community of city, for country and the whole world, is action made fine. This wonderful stunningly beautiful building and its traditions of service was, and is, the most amazing legacy from a far anonymous past which I believe demands that it should be faithfully cherished and maintained. To work in Lincoln Cathedral was a privilege and a joy. I can only pray that I gave some small service back both to the community and to God who had given me so much. </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>At the end of one of my educational sessions with a party of 11 year olds from a Catford primary school, a quiet little girl came up to me and asked: </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"> “Like what you said about the monks, Miss - do you do all this work to the glory of God, Miss?”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
I thought for a moment, and then I said:</div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “I do try to, but I’m not always very good at it.” </span></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span> “Don’t worry, miss, God’ll forgive you.”</span></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span"></span>Amen to that.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span class="s1"><i> Naomi</i></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p5" style="text-align: start;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-79475076158166588992016-05-01T21:53:00.002+01:002016-05-01T21:53:22.792+01:00Lanius Collurio: the Red-Backed Shrike<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span> </b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2">
<span class="s1"><b> </b></span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span> <b> Lanius collurio: the Red-Backed Shrike</b></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><b> </b></span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><b> Victim or Villain?</b><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
Much like a sparrow from some exotic clime</div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
far from the northern grey and chill unwelcoming </div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">of a breezy English day, a Red-Backed Shrike</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">with rich chestnut cloak and mask of velvet black,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">blue hooded and royally imperious,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">masquerades as a proud young Venetian prince.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">A rare little bird, a feisty little bird,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">born in the land where his ancestors were born.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">He sits high on a post overlooking a stream</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">which flows chattering through a bright green valley,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">looking for meat to feed his growing chicks,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">for this is springtime when the pickings are good,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">and the Butcher Bird earns once more his name</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">as he impales his prey on a ladder of thorns. </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">A brave little bird, a clever little bird,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">at home again where his ancestors were born.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">But will he survive the journey he must make</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">to find a warm Winter's sun, where massacred</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
in their millions, tiny birds are trapped and shot</div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">for "sport," served up as culinary delights,</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">caged as pets, their migration flight paths become</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">bitter<i> </i>Afro-European killing grounds?</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">Will our vulnerable little bird fly back home</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">returning to where his ancestors were born?</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<br />
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1">Perhaps - I do not know. God grant that he may.</span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><i> </i></span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s1"><i> Naomi</i></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-16725202854578129392016-03-24T19:33:00.004+00:002016-03-24T19:34:17.375+00:00The Magpie - my king is a bird<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">The wind blows and I watch you</span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">make your way up a young tree</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">with trunk and branches so thin</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">that you circle and hover</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">like a feathered pole dancer</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">dressed in iridescent green.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Such elegance, such zeal.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You shimmy delicately </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">down an old cracked tiled roof,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">sashay skilfully around </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">the iron chimney stack,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">not a speck of rust allowed </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">to sully that sleek white vest.<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So accomplished, so smart.<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Here in this April garden</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">you hunt to feed your babies<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">that your chicks may grow strong<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and leave the large domed nest, <span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">spreading their short dusty wings,<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">ready for both fight and play.<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So dutiful, so benign.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">May approaches, and you fly</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">over green fields and wide fen,<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">taking fruit from an orchard,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">grumbling and chattering,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">stealing eggs and attacking</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">featherless late born chicks.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So shocking, and so sly.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You push through the privet hedge<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">into the soft green meadow,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">your brood, scared of neither cat</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">nor fox, knowing safety lies</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">in your knife-like slender beak</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and your apotropaic eyes.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">So much power, so much trust.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">You stand here now, still and proud,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">the monochrome defender</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">of my ancient wild garden</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">where, tho’ hounded and hated</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">by some, you are made welcome,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif;">monarch in all your glory.</span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"> <i>Naomi</i></span></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-36847527468780299382016-03-23T00:24:00.001+00:002016-03-23T00:27:11.956+00:00Each day is Easter Day<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Where snowdrops and daffodils rested silent</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">beneath roofs of ice and warm blankets of snow,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">witch hazel now blooms, its dry leafless branches </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">clothed with flowers of yellow, gold and red,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">their long ragged petals like shredded dandelions.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Along the cold shore's edge late white hellebores</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">turn their faces towards the promised new sun,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">high on the cliff herring gulls build their new nests</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">crying to the wind as they wait for the dance.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">On a green hill not so very far away,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">his life's circle broken, his earthly work done,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">a dying man hangs from a cross, as thunder</span></div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1" style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">roars and lightning flashes across the dark sky</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Red tulips lie crushed at the foot of the cross</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">like pools of blood on an old carpet of death.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But as our lord's spirit returns to his God,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">life rises again this first Easter morning,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">rejoins the circle, and continues the dance.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Each hallowed life is a precious gift offered</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">by a loving and compassionate Father,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">he who choreographs the eternal circle</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">wherein we may now find our resurrection.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Every whispering flower, every singing bird,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">each wave that gently kisses the golden sand</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">makes sweet music to accompany the dance,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">for life is our circle, the circle our dance,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">each day is Easter Day, and the dance goes on.</span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Naomi</i></span></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-46017257259694205632016-01-18T15:27:00.005+00:002017-06-21T12:55:09.543+01:00Lighten our Darkness ...<div class="p1">
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b>Lighten our darkness …</b></span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The swirling waters of the great river </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">leave behind the bustle </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of the noon-tide port,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the scream of sirens,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and the rattling of grain</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">pouring into boxes on the Quay.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The river, calm now, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">flows into the roseate West </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and the tired sun sinks lazily </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into a darkening sea.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In the Minster </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the evening candles have been lit,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">their shadows dancing </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">like grasses in the wind</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">spread across the stone altar</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in the old chapel</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">where the red light hangs, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a perpetual reminder </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">that this is a place </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of sanctuary and of prayer.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Beside the estuary </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and across the vast expanse</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of mud and marsh and sand,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">pink footed geese </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">fly home to their roost, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">while the curlew’s haunting cry</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">faintly echoes the bell’s </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">summons to Evensong,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">there to give thanks for the day,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and pray for a quiet night.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">“Lighten our darkness </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">we beseech thee O Lord”</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The ancient chapel stirs,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the old words reverberate</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and gather darkly </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in the rafters high above,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as tiny candle flames </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">leap suddenly upwards, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">haloes of light in darkness, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">an answer to prayer.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">The sky above the estuary is filled </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">with the dusky mist of evening.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">A lamb stranded on the Sea Bank</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">calls for its mother, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but only a Barn Owl hoots</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as he swoops low </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">across the salt marsh</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to find his fishing ground,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">at the edge </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of the wide river. </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal; min-height: 12px;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Tomorrow the sun will rise again</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into the eastern sky, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and the world will be remade </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">as it has been daily since </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">those first bright days of creation.</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">While tonight, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">far away across the marsh, </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">a lone blackbird still sings,</span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and we shall rest </span></div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
</div>
<div style="font-family: Garamond; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in the arms of a loving God.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-44180078926494553882016-01-08T18:28:00.001+00:002016-01-08T18:28:49.876+00:00A poem for the New Year<div class="p1">
<span class="s1">
</span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the beginning, Music …</span></b></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></i></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">At the 1799 first public performance of Haydn’s Creation in Vienna, the Overture, the first recitative and Chorus were all written around the sombre key of C minor. The following section with its unexpectedly bold opening fortissimo chord of C major, marking the creation of Light, so electrified the Viennese audience that, for some minutes, the orchestra was unable to move on to the Introduction to the first Tenor aria.</span></i></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">In the perpetual stygean darkness</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">of a desolate void and turbulent gloom. </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Haydn heard dark chords empty and disparate,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">cadences disappeared like hope before dawn.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Chaos reigned, sad lonely monarch of nothing,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">faithless and sinister, faceless and threatening,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">cloaked in a mantle of grey shadows and fear.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">But the Spirit of God moved a new dawning,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">lichen and mosses unfurled their drab beauty</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">quietly chanting their first sunrise hymn,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">singing clouds sailed stately over blue waters,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">and breezes blew through the stems of tall reeds</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">like far distant oboes announcing the news</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">that Creation’s Odyssey was now begun.</span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Following the music the journey continues</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">as trumpets of flowers call us to prayer,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1">the meandering stream’s soft </span><span class="s2"><i>ostinato</i></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">offers its song to the still summer evening,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">and fluting owls in the cool gathering dusk </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">sing praises and psalms once heard in a garden,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">reflections of Paradise from the deep night. </span></span></div>
<div class="p2">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">God’s were the melodies sung by Creation,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">stars in the night sky his sweet psalteries of gold,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">and carolling birds his immutable choir.</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">’Twas Love first struck the great Chord of C major,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">but the genius of Haydn echoed its sound</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">opening our eyes to a glory unending,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">revealed to us all in that vast burst of light.</span><br />
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"> <i>Naomi</i></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><br /></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-26949614981528734702015-12-01T23:45:00.005+00:002015-12-09T12:25:05.600+00:00<div class="p1">
<br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTeK-zeQzCw/Vl4xlGnoZtI/AAAAAAAAANo/_9g5FQrMo9s/s1600/Mantegna%2BVirgoin%2B2_edited-1%2Bcopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-NTeK-zeQzCw/Vl4xlGnoZtI/AAAAAAAAANo/_9g5FQrMo9s/s320/Mantegna%2BVirgoin%2B2_edited-1%2Bcopy.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><b></b></span><br /></div>
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><b>No halo, no crown … </b></span></h2>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><b><i></i></b></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="s1"><i>“</i><i>The Virgin of Humility” </i></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="s1"><i>an engraving made in the workshop of Mantegna</i></span></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">A girl sits on a low stool in the darkened corner</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">of an engraving made five hundred years ago,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">her robe draped about her like folds of sculpted marble,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">pulled from a copper-plate, sharp etched by a master.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">But behind the Virgin’s head is no bright halo,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">upon her brow is set no golden crown.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">The Mother and her Child enfolded into one being,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">her cheek rests against his, and within the shelter</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">of those large loving hands and strong young arms </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">is their quiet and private place none may trespass upon.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">There she has no need of any bright halo,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">no reason to look for a golden crown.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">The Babe in swaddling clothes stares out wide eyed</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">into the world become his home, chubby feet</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">resting on his Mother’s sleeve, his curly head</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">lying securely against his Mother’s breast.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">She who never dreams of a bright halo</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">or the glory of a golden crown.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">The Baby and the Mother rest in a world of their own,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">suspended in silence, yet ever mutely eloquent</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">throughout the five hundred years they have been held</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">within a delicate mesh of perpetual care and love,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">she a humble Mother wearing no bright halo,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">he no king yearning for a golden crown.</span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">No shepherds come now to kneel in trembling wonder,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">no journeying wise men bring gifts here from afar,</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">no angelic choir lights up the sleeping night sky.</span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">Only a Mother with her precious Baby, sitting in the shadows </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">and showing us that perfect Love is its own bright halo </span></div>
<div class="p2" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1">and our Lord needs wear no golden crown.</span></div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p4" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i></i></span><br /></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i>I know of two versions of this engraving</i></span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i>one complete with the Virgin’s halo, </i></span></div>
<div class="p3" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"><i>and the other - this one - with neither halo, nor crown.</i></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"></span><br /></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-8537575514051020322015-11-16T12:57:00.001+00:002015-12-22T11:31:09.311+00:00<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ahQvCO0D-I/Vnkz4JNd7rI/AAAAAAAAAN8/v6yoCqARx0g/s1600/VIOLETS%2B-%2BMEMORIAL%2B-%2BOWL%2B%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6ahQvCO0D-I/Vnkz4JNd7rI/AAAAAAAAAN8/v6yoCqARx0g/s320/VIOLETS%2B-%2BMEMORIAL%2B-%2BOWL%2B%25281%2529.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;"><span class="s1">1915 </span><span class="s2"> - “Violets from Plug Street Wood, Sweet, I send you … ”</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s3"><b><span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></b></span><span class="s2"><b> </b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<i style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Roland Leighton from Ploegsteert Wood, Flanders, to Vera Brittain </span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="p2">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s2"><b></b></span><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Serried ranks marching through Whitehall, paraplegics,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and princes, pensioners and red coated guardsmen, </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">politicians pristine in sombre mourning dress,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">the hatted and turbaned, feathered and helmeted,</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">gather around Lutyen’s white marble Cenotaph, </span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p1">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">symbol of an old empire’s long remembering.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">In a quiet green village at the heart of Kent stands</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">a Memorial Cross. Here mourners will assemble</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">to remember loved ones lost long ago in France,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and brave men and women who, never to return</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">from the war grounds of Iraq and Afghanistan, </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">followed the bugle’s last call to eternal sleep. </span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Should we cast aside our memories of trauma</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and destruction in the sodden trenches of France,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">where boys, never grown into manhood, there still lie</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">beneath a carpet of spent shells in Nomansland,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">or ignore the sacrifice of thousands who fell</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">on the beaches of far away Gallipoli?</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">If we shrug off as old history best forgotten</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">when, as Death hovered smiling over the Line, six</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">thousand victims of ten minutes’ gas died at Ypres,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">or if a hundred years on we cannot or will not </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">remember those whose lives were tragically broken,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">how can we teach our children the harsh truths of war?</span></span></div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span class="s2"></span><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">When the grass in the sun warmed meadows grows again,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">the scorched earth takes into itself a million bones</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">to nourish the wheat and feed a dormouse newborn,</span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">do not forget the pain while you rebuild the peace, </span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
<span class="s2"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">and gather violets once more in Plug Street Wood.<span class="Apple-tab-span"> </span></span></span></div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
<div class="p1">
</div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Amen So may it be.</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: times, times new roman, serif;"><i>Naomi</i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="p3">
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="p1" style="text-align: left;">
<span class="s2" style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Lieutenant R A Leighton, aged 20, died from his wounds 23 December 1915 </i> </span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="p4" style="text-align: center;">
<span class="s2" style="font-size: x-small;"><i>R.I.P.</i></span><br />
<span class="s2" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i>Illustration by Liz</i></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<span class="s2" style="font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-13160187937781244532015-10-31T21:47:00.004+00:002015-10-31T21:49:40.087+00:00<b>I will hold you in my heart</b><br />
<br />
Dear Gel,<br />
<br />
I shall miss you my friend,<br />
your bright eyes and your laughter,<br />
your energy and your humour,<br />
your patience and your kindness<br />
to the sad, the misfits and the lame.<br />
But with you held deep in my heart<br />
I shall walk again with you,<br />
my unseen companion, to greet<br />
the mournful crying of the gulls<br />
and sing to the welcoming beat<br />
of lacy foam capped waves.<br />
This is the loving friendship<br />
with which, in my latter years,<br />
I have been richly blessed,<br />
and from the bottom of my heart<br />
I thank you, and pray that your God<br />
will go with you, and bless you.<br />
<br />
Love, Nome<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-9486476647018507682015-09-13T23:54:00.001+01:002015-10-31T21:33:55.700+00:00<div align="center" class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: center;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">“</span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">In my end is my beginning</span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">”</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; mso-outline-level: 1; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">T. S. Eliot:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>East Coker</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">I am a solitary, a country member, a
congregation of one, a member of the Fellowship of Non-Subscribing Christians,
and an Unitarian.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">My youthful Anglo-Catholic Christian faith was
the sum of many parts: environment, upbringing, church teaching, my early
delight in the colour and the drama of the Parish Mass, the austere beauty of
the Edwardian brick church on the hill, the confidence of the community who
bowed their heads to the Creator God the Father, offered their hearts to the
Saviour God the Son, and gave their thanks to God the Holy Spirit who had led
them in safety along the age-old path their fathers too had followed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">Aged 18, I left home and went up to Cambridge
at a time of great religious revival in the University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Charismatic preachers like the one time
Communist Father Michael Fisher SSF drew in the crowds, the Christian Union
exhorted us to repent and throw ourselves at the foot of the Mercy Seat and
accept Jesus as our saviour, while college chaplains reminded us that as
Christians we must look to the needs of the sick, the poor, the dispossessed,
the lonely and the mad.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My liberal
minded Director of Studies was a liberal convert to Roman Catholicism, my
supervisor in medieval studies was a long time supporter of the Modern
Churchmen</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">s Union which had since its foundation in 1898
stirred up a hornet</span><span lang="FR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">s
nest of protest against its debunking of all manner of dodgy doctrines and
illiberal practices both within the Anglican and the wider Christian
church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many Christians attended
church twice every Sunday and<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sat
up into the early hours of many mornings debating all these exciting but
perturbing ideals and ideas. My bed time reading was Eliot</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">s <i>Four Quartets </i>and a book of the
poetry of Rabindrinath Tagore.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Writing now with the gift of the great god
Hindsight, I realise that the saga of my drift from high Anglican Christianity
to Unitarianism and the Fellowship of Non-Subscribing Christians originated
fifty eight years ago in Cambridge.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the succeeding decades of my grown-up devotion to the teachings of
the Church, the echoes of the intellectual and spiritual excitement of that
amazing time, the words of wise men generally forgotten, and of our often
tortuous undergraduate discussions increasingly invaded my mind and disturbed
the spiritual complacency of approaching middle age.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Thus it was that some twenty five years ago, conscience,
credal doctrine and dogma overcome at last by enquiry and reason, I slipped out
of the Anglican Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I s</span>at on
my lonely pillar like a Stylite in the desert, hoping that someone would come
along and offer me a meal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
fact, before very long, several good folk did.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">I was made wonderfully welcome by the National
Unitarian Fellowship, where I found new email friends from a variety of other
religious and spiritual backgrounds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was encouraged to consider the wisdom and teaching of other religions,
alternative ways to enlightenment, other perspectives on the age old spiritual
problems, old doubts and miseries, and to learn from other holy books and other
holy souls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>embarked on a new journey where I had
to find my own path through a dark forest of strange ideas and new perceptions
until I emerged into the light of understanding that each Unitarian person must
seek their own unique path to God or to enlightenment, must accept their own
faith, each choosing their own teacher, or guide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I began to understand that my attitude to my personal faith
must achieve a new humility and openness in the face of such candid
diversity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">For the first time in years I looked again at
the teachings of various of the world</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">s
religions and realised that many of the precepts of Jesus could be found in
older religions or would be incorporated into later religions - love of God,
hospitality to be offered to strangers and neighbours, care for the creatures
of the natural world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These
precepts, which I also followed, were so widely acknowledged throughout the
whole world that the the core of what was left of my old Christian faith seemed
now to be but a part of a wider, older, deeper universal faith, and that was
exciting. For too long I had embraced a Christian faith that had about it an
imposed corporate certainty which could be reassuring, but could also suffocate
the individual spirit, and put down the free thinker as a child who, having
once escaped the apron strings, is rounded up by the thought police and
returned to its loving, smothering Mother.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Armed with the Unitarian principles I had learned from the
NUF, I felt released into the custody of my own individual beliefs or
non-beliefs, which could be as hazardous as it was exciting, but it seemed to
work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">I found from the very beginning of my
connection with my open minded friends in the National<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unitarian Fellowship and the Earth
Spirit Network, wonderful encouragement and support for my journey of faith -
particularly from the two ladies with whom I have worked and shared such a long
and treasured email correspondence.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many of the rest of those good Unitarian people can seem to be, in one
sense, just names on an electronic page, images in a photo gallery or
characters who appear in an Unitarian TV video.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Joan and Liz are as real to me as my daughter downstairs
and Chris my friend and carer in the flat above, while many of the</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">‘</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">just names</span><span lang="FR" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="FR" style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ansi-language: FR; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">are
as real as the kindly neighbours who live in our Square.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">I began to write small fables for grown-ups
and poems in which an emoting-by-proxy narrative would calm the ruffled
feathers I had tended to raise in the the Internet Forum when first falling
back into my old robust debating style.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To write for a group of folk with whom I was becoming at ease and whom I
very much respected, was a precious and fulfilling occupation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Both the research and the actual
process of writing not only emerged from the faith I already had but then, in
its turn, re-enforced that faith. Take for example the tale of the small brown
Vogelkop bower bird, who searches the waste discarded by humans<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to find objects vividly coloured and
sparklingly<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>beautiful with which
to decorate the bower he prepares each year to attract a new compliment of
wives. He is an energetic eco warrior - a recycler of old rubbish tossed aside
by folk who don</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">t care, and then he transforms a potential
pollutant into a useful and decorative contribution to the lives of his
families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or read the story of the
compassionate outcast fox who saved the the lives of the Indian Running Duck
ducklings -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>what<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>lessons might these be for us mere
lords of creation?</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">Unitarian openness and tolerance is a safe
raft upon which to sit while paddling the best one can across the torrent of a
hundred conflicting waters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
where to paddle next, and who was the shadowy figure who sat beside me and
accompanied me along my path, a stranger etherial, and without a name?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Faith, God, the religious life,
spiritual awareness are for me all part of the Circle that is the eternal
renewing of life and death of men and of the natural world in which we have the
privilege to live, and is also at the heart of the Unitarian Earth Spirit
Network.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am not a Pagan by
conviction, but I have for nearly as long as I can remember found God mirrored
in his creation, an indistinct image perhaps - but a window into eternity that
the nine-year-old-I-once-was recognised one summer afternoon on an Exmoor
hillside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Suddenly this window had
been opened for me again, and every ride I took along the cliff showed me God -
in the tiny purple vetch along the path, the red valerian at the edge of the
shore and the great herring gulls wheeling and dancing across the top of the
lace edged waves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The presence of
God was literally everywhere - how could I not believe that my purpose on earth
was to love God and my neighbour as myself, and to care for God</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">s wonderful creation?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">As do so many Unitarians, I came to have faith
in the inherent goodness of every person; in the necessity for free and
truthful enquiry and freedom from the constriction of formal creeds; in the
right of every individual</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">s opinion to be heard and honestly considered;
in our obligation to seek to honour differences; in the worth and wisdom of
every religion and spiritual path grounded in love; in justice and equity for
all; in our commitment to respect and protect the world in which we are
privileged to make our home; and the essential equality due to everyone
regardless of religion, race, sexual orientation or gender.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">As my confidence in my Unitarian journey of
faith increased, so did my abiding respect for my Christian roots.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I could see the possibility of my old
fashioned affection for the early dissenting Unitarians of the Protestant
Reformation metamorphosing into a serviceable cloak to warm my spirit as it
pursues its unfamiliar pilgrimage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Further encouraged by my membership of the Unitarian Christian
Association and latterly by the Fellowship of Non-Subscribing Christians I
began to study seriously again the person and the personality of Jesus the
teacher, prophet and guide, the radical Rabi from Galilee, concentrating now on
his relationship with God whose children we all are, and his relationship with
all those children of God for whom he urged the men and women who would follow
him to care. His Sermon on the Mount, the message of the miracles and his
thirty or so Parables which present us with his ethical and social teaching,
together with the two great commandments he gave us to love God and to love our
neighbours, are the abiding sources of my Free Christian faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">My Non-Subscribing Christian faith, which has
no truck with compulsory Creeds, is centred once more in the teaching and
example of the life of Jesus, and the living out of his commandments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is nurtured by the companionship of
the welcoming Non Subscribing Christians of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland
whose hearts are open to all honest seekers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the words of The Rev. Chris Wilson the Minister of
Moneyreagh Non-Subscribing Presbyterian Church of Ireland:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">I
believe my own calling to be to preach the Kingdom of God, not as a millennial
event, but as something realised in and through loving acts, the loving
community, </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">‘</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">realised eschatology</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">as the theologians would
have it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This means the
imperative, to reach out to others, to love God and neighbour as self, in
particular when our neighbour seems different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Liberal Christianity affirms all to be the children of God,
of all faiths, of all creeds, of all traditions and classes, however we may
differ from one another.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-ascii-font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">”</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">["<i>Fellowship", issue 1</i>]</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">I see my life as a spiritual journey I make
through a constantly changing landscape, and as yet unfinished. But now in the
Autumn of 2015 the Circle would seem to be almost complete.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The interwoven pattern of the Dance of
Life and Love is ready to be taken from the loom, and my erstwhile shadowy
companion Jesus is revealed in the clear light of day and is no longer seen through a glass darkly.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">She walks now on that quiet path </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">in a valley whose name is Content.</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">The enervating heat of noon is past </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">and the healing breezes of evening</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">steal silently out of the shadows.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">The child she used to be takes</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">her hand, and whispers to her </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">that what there is, is all there is,</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">and all there is, is gift enough </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">to be made of, or not, as she wills.</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">She feels the presence of the past, </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">the high peaks, the bottomless pits,</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">loving and loss, sadness and joy, </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">her young self, and her strong self, </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">while a man whose yoke is easy </span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">leads her gently into the morning.</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<br /></div>
<div align="right" class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: right;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">Naomi Linnell,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Broadstairs</span></i><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<div align="right" class="Body" style="line-height: 150%; tab-stops: 35.45pt 70.9pt 106.35pt 141.8pt 177.25pt 212.7pt 248.15pt 283.6pt 319.05pt; text-align: right;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 13.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-hansi-font-family: Helvetica;">Autumn<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>2015</span></i></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-90246945370978928012015-06-16T21:55:00.002+01:002015-10-31T21:34:44.398+00:00St Francis, il Poverello d'Assisi<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><b>Saint Francis, il Poverello d’Assisi</b><br /><br />Travelling through the Spoleto Valley, the Saint<br />preached to a company of his feathered<br />brothers and sisters who had waited<br />patiently for him in a glade beside the hot<br />and rock-strewn road.<br />From the topmost branches <br />of the tallest trees to the drab bushes<br />green-dulled with dust thrown<br />up by a thousand travelling feet,<br />they watched as the Saint approached.<br /><br />The Poor Man of Assisi robed in a tunic of humble<br />undyed peasant wool, bleached by the burning sun<br />and stained by the rich dark soil of Umbria, <br />stopped in the centre of a vivid circle<br />of finely marked plumage. <br />Jays elegant in pale coral and black trimmed<br />with elegant stripes of blue, crests raised,<br />chattered high up in the trees<br />and then fell silent as the Saint<br />raised his hands in a gesture of love.<br /><br />Eurasian Nuthatches in waistcoats of pale brown<br />and coats of drab blue-grey, ceased their scurrying<br />and their busy walks down old gnarled trunks <br />where a hungry bird might find insects and seeds,<br />and lifted up their thin black beaks to honour him.<br />A Little Owl, Athene’s darling, in a sweetly specked robe<br />of brown and cream, bowed his head in the face<br />of the unaccustomed mid-day sun,<br />while jade Kingfishers and Yellow Wagtails<br />stretched out their wings to bid welcome to the Saint. <br /> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">“My brothers and my sisters, I greet you”<br />Francesco spoke in a voice those sweetness<br /> echoed the passing stream and, with a countenance <br />as fair as a lily, he smiled upon his avian congregation.<br />“Here, my brothers and my sisters, we may see <br />the wonders of God: our brother the resplendent Sun<br />who lights up the day and our sister Moon<br />who makes lovely the bleak darkness of night;<br />and the wind and the rain which scatter and nourish<br />the burgeoning grains which feed us.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">“Praise God for our sister Water whose rivers </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">slake our thirst and make clean our land;</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">for brother Fire who warms the long nights of winter</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">and for our sister Mother Earth, in whose demesne</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">we have found a a secure place to build our nests,</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">there to rear our precious fledglings. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Go in peace now my children and take with you</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">as you fly the blessing and love of Him</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">who made you and gave to us all</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">this extraordinary world.”</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the Saint delivered his blessing, a solitary Blue Rock Thrush</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">turned his face towards the distant shimmering mountains </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">and sang an ethereal Te Deum of thanks and praise.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">For here in this sylvan chapel beside a dusty road,</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">the quiet eager listeners had been moved </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">by the tenderness and wisdom </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">of this man of God. </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">A random gaggle of birds they would be no longer, </span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">but the grateful denizens of this hallowed place.</span><br /><span style="font-family: inherit;">Would that we might follow their example. </span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"><i>Naomi</i> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-80646579114909442812015-05-20T12:57:00.000+01:002015-10-31T21:35:14.346+00:00Our Christian Faith<div style="font-size: 13px;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Our Christian Faith </i>edited by Dr Brian Hick,</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">published by Larkpress, 2015.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Price: £8.00 + £1.00 P&P </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Details from Catherine Fozard [<a href="mailto:cathy@fozard.com"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">cathy@fozard.com</span></a>] U.C.A.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div style="min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>“What is it that is deep within me that I cannot understand?</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>It is Love, Holy Spirit, dearest God!”</i></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div style="min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">This book is a collection of twenty
eight essays and two poems written by members of the Unitarian
Christian Association, some of whom are also members of the Fellowship
of Non-Subscribing Christians. The project was originally launched for
the UCA by the Reverend Bob Pounder and the editorship continued by Dr
Brian Hick. It is a well presented small volume, a stimulating read
full of interest and wisdom, all for the modest price of £8.00. But be
aware of the weakness of the“perfect binding” of the shiny card-thick
pages - my month old copy is already showing signs of disjointed wear
and tear.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div style="min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">The twenty eight authors include a
bundle of ministers, a clutch of Lay Preachers, a basketful of members
from gathered congregations and one Non-Subscribing Christian who has
never knowingly met another Unitarian - of any persuasion - face to
face. Twenty eight pieces, each unique in its narrative, detail and
interpretation, make for a multi layered work with poignant personal
accounts interleaved with a more general survey of our Christian faith.
For example: personal Faith - “I feel in my faith to occupy a narrow
middle ground,…a place of vital significance, dearly won”; our Hope -
“The most significant years of Liberal Christianity may be ahead of
us”; Agapé, a loving acceptance - “All that we share is greater than
all that divides”; Spiritual journeying - “I view faith as a journey
and not as a destination - the journey continues and I do not know the
destination. But I hope and pray that God will continue to guide me and
inspire me, along all my ways.” </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div style="min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">The result of this eclectic mix is a
text fashioned a little like the web of a cack-footed spider. As a web
it could not be described as a miracle of classic arachnid design, but
rather an agglomeration of strands - some long, some short, some dense,
some delicate. But at its centre it is all wonderfully brought together
like Eliot’s ‘still point of the turning world’ - that which is, for us,
the living presence in our lives of a man called Jesus. “[Jesus] … is
saying that when you love the Lord your God with all your heart and love
your neighbour as yourself, that when you live with love in your heart
for all people because you know that all people are made by God and held
by Him in His love, then the kingdom is right here and right now.” It
is this first century Rabi, whether he be God or man or myth, who is
“the hero of our belief system”; who “has a potential to offer a Middle
Way”; and is “the central figure of the Gospels’ <i>esoteric </i>texts
which describe the spiritual journey of Everyman (and Everywoman)…” and
in whose name “… the great Christian festivals witness to the Human Form
Divine…” This is the Man of God and the Son of Man, who is both our
inspiration and at the heart of our heterogeneous Christian Faith. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
</span>
<div style="min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;">
<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;">“…
We shall always be trying … new beginnings, for until the hour of our
death we are all beginners.” We are, indeed, all beginners. All our
contributors have looked back to their own new beginnings and reflected
upon where they are now. But the journeys sustained by our Christian
faith are never ended, the Circle is unbroken and our Dance continues. </span><br />
</span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><i>Naomi</i></span></span></div>
Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-37996439547124896072015-04-01T23:22:00.000+01:002015-10-31T21:35:30.613+00:00Holy Week - A soldier's prayer<div style="min-height: 15px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0px; letter-spacing: 0px;"></span><br /></span></div>
<div style="min-height: 15px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Holy Week - A soldier’s prayer</b></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div style="min-height: 12px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">I walked through the city guarding a man</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">who carried a great wooden beam,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">going to his death in a place called Golgotha.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Staggering beneath the crushing weight of his burden </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">his sweat mingled with the bloody wounds </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">our nine tailed scourge had carved, </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">and spread about his naked flesh like a cloak</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">of imperial Tyrian purple vivid in the sunshine</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">of that never to be forgotten day.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">On his head we rammed a crown,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">not of gold studded with precious stones</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">but a crown of thorns from a dirty hedgerow, </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">whose vicious barbs stung deep until he wore</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">a myriad drops of blood like a necklace </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">of rubies about his sad brow.</span></span></div>
<div style="min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">A pious woman in the crowd offered him her veil</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">that he might wipe away the sweat and blood,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">but those who last week cried ‘Hosannah’</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">this day screamed ‘Crucify’.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">His eyes glassy with hunger and pain, </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">he fell to his knees and could not rise again.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">My centurion bade a strong Cyrenian take up the beam</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">and the procession arrived at last in the Field of the Skull.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">There we nailed him to his cross and raised him</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">up where all could see - his mother, his brothers,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">his friends, silently weeping at the foot of the cross.</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">It seemed to me that the sky grew dark,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">and the earth shook, but we divided his clothes </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">amongst us, for he was dead now</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">and needed earthly goods no more.</span></span></div>
<div style="min-height: 15px;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">That night we spent drinking and dicing</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">but I could not settle, remembering </span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">the love I had seen in the eyes of the dying man,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">his body nearly broken, his last breath nearly drawn,</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">and the spirit of forgiveness and peace hovering</span></span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">above him as he hung there, prisoner</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">of the instrument of his suffering and death.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">to a small farm where I sit in the sun </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">of that long ago man of infinite dignity.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">Some said he had not died that afternoon but escaped</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">I do not know,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">maybe I shall never know.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">But I pray to my gods that his god</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">chosen resting place for those honest souls</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">whose lives become, for us left here, </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">a pattern of goodness and love. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;">So may it be. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Naomi</i></span></div>
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Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29935365.post-76890137084374637832015-03-25T17:10:00.003+00:002015-10-31T21:35:54.181+00:00<div style="font-size: 12px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0px;"><b>Oscar Romero</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><i>Remembered in the Corona Chapel of Canterbury Cathedral as one of the Twenty Saints and Martyrs of our Time. </i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">In this quiet chapel, where the welcome smile</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">of a winter morning streams through lapis glass</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">lighting up sun gold slim pillar and wide stepped stone,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">I meditate on the saints and martyrs of our time,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">commemorated here where once Becket’s crown was laid.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">Archbishop, poet, philosopher, minister, priest and nun,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">long cherished in the hearts of all whose lives they embraced,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">their loving spirits bright mirror of the divine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They followed their Master far up the dangerous mountain path,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">along the edge of the precipice, across the roaring torrent,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">into a city of sad madmen, tyrants and thieves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">There, to reject neither the summons to deathbed or prison cell,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">the trembling outstretched hand, the empty pleading eyes,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">but to nourish the broken and the hungry soul,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to touch with love the outcast and the untouchable,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">to break again the alabaster jar and anoint the weary feet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">They went to Bethlehem to greet the Christ Child’s coming,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">they sat in the Temple amongst the wondering doctors,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">in the wilderness they prayed for him and at his baptism rejoiced,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">they walked and talked with him beside the Sea of Galilee,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">they wept for him in the moonlit agony of Gethsemane</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">and in his footsteps trod their own Via Dolorosa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; letter-spacing: 0.0px;">He, their Child, their Teacher and their Lord. </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Verbum caro factum</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.0px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Venite adoramus Dominum</i></span></span></div>
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Naomihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05001117690040058089noreply@blogger.com0