This is what must first be given to the painting, a harmonious warmth, an abyss into which the eye sinks, a voiceless germination… (Paul Cézanne) How often is he shown with those horns of light, as though his head were itself full of the brightest luminescence and two cracks, two holes had formed inside his skullContinue reading ““The thick darkness where God was””
Category Archives: Poetry
“You are God’s field, God’s building”
Good news. He also works in earthy things: not only stars but soil and grass, carves churches from stone souls, makes mud-houses whole, and knows the ways a seed must break. Good news that maimed bodies are his building, that the one-eyed, the lame, may be fed in his field, good news that his isContinue reading ““You are God’s field, God’s building” “
“A catholic taste,” she said
and I nodded, not knowing at all what she meant, for I was not, nor have ever been, Catholic. How then, I wondered, was my reading taste catholic? The word, at the time, meant Mary and popes, not expansive, far-reaching, inclusive. Now I give my old teacher’s words new meaning: yes, catholic in reading, inContinue reading ““A catholic taste,” she said”
“With pen in hand”
The fact that a work of such unperturbed objectivity and such deep, radiating peace could grow from a life which, far from being untroubled, consumed itself in strife, gives us an insight into the special quality of the man. (Josef Pieper, The Silence of St Thomas) The branch is not the root system. When youContinue reading ““With pen in hand””
Advance
We also came across the seas, my people: Romans, Vikings, colonials, the lot of them, convicts and scoundrels, emperors and ne’er-do-wells. They came and they saw, they usurped, or were sent. You came like us, to this lucky country. You came in hope. We take it from you. We also heard of the boundless plains;Continue reading “Advance”
Resolution: No Clutter
Too fidgety the mind’s compass (R.S. Thomas, “Adam Tempted”) I pile books on books and thought on thought. I pile obligation onto guilt, and duty onto resignation. This is panic in my breath and limbs tingling with the pace of things. There is no end, the wise teacher said, to all flesh-weariness of thought. IContinue reading “Resolution: No Clutter”
Welcome, God’s Year
For many, 2016 will be a year that few will miss or wish to repeat. It was the year of Brexit and Trump, of many beloved public figures dying, and seemingly also a year of much personal hardship for many people. It was certainly the case for my wife and I this year. Yet I’m determinedContinue reading “Welcome, God’s Year”
No Ghosts This Year Concludes, and a Christmas Gift
Well, today is the last day of Advent, and so it is time for me to wrap up my Advent story for the year. If you’ve been following the story so far, you can read the last instalment below. But, if you’re new to this year’s story you can read the rest of it, plusContinue reading “No Ghosts This Year Concludes, and a Christmas Gift”
Mental Health November Week Three: White Collar Time
Unexpected Gifts
Because the Danes roared across the waves in Viking- glory, horn-helmeted King Cnut at the helm, we can now say that we are glad, can label small what we’d otherwise miss, and can cut with a knife the smallest things the eye can see. Come wind and hail, though time may slay, we lay cold and rain beforeContinue reading “Unexpected Gifts”
The Consolations of Writing 