Pregnant with its own hopeful future, Bursting with change and the newness of experience… The year stands, A heaving monument to grace. “The Swelling Year”, 2019 I would not have written those words this year. I almost cannot imagine the world in which I did write them. Though I first wrote them in 2012, theyContinue reading “The year stands, still”
Category Archives: The Swelling Year
Instruments: For Francis of Assisi
Today the church remembers St Francis of Assisi, so here is a sneak peek at a new poem I wrote based on his life and ethos for The Swelling Year. Instruments (For Francis of Assisi) All our instruments tend to dischord. We turn away from harmony in search of our own tunes. Brother Jesus, inContinue reading “Instruments: For Francis of Assisi”
“The Swelling Year” is here…
Well, after seven years of writing and an intense few months of preparation, my book The Swelling Year: Poems for Holy and Ordinary Days is finally available for purchase. I was very excited this week to discover that, as well as being available directly from lulu.com, it can also be ordered at Amazon, Barnes andContinue reading ““The Swelling Year” is here…”
Happy birthday church
Today is Pentecost Sunday and a chance to revisit the poem I wrote for this day many years ago. I’m sharing a snippet here as a preview of what you can expect from the upcoming book.
The Swelling Year 2019
Dear friends, If you have been hanging around The Consolations of Writing for a while, you might have noticed that I love using the church’s liturgical year as inspiration for my writing. Well, this interest has been going for some years now – six, in fact – and I’ve decided to put together the bestContinue reading “The Swelling Year 2019”
Ascension Day
Well, today is Ascension Day and so this marks the very last poem for my Swelling Year project. When I first set myself the task of writing a poem for every day of the liturgical calendar, it seemed to both me and to others to be biting off substantially more than I could chew. Well,Continue reading “Ascension Day”
Rise (Saturday in Easter Week)
And He did; though it breaks our minds, He did. The tomb is empty, Peter’s face white like linen; Mary smiles and hearts are soon on fire; there’s no reason why the broken, wounded,Continue reading “Rise (Saturday in Easter Week)”
Stone Hearts (Friday in Easter Week)
It seems to cut against all logic, What we claim that we have seen: Dead men do not rise, the lame Do not stand up and walk. And though we shout and scream a name It has no power from the tomb; And yet His name made these bowed legs Straighten out and move. Continue reading “Stone Hearts (Friday in Easter Week)”
Author of Life (Thursday in Easter Week)
“It’s true: the Author of life lay dead, Lay three days inside death’s tomb, The Righteous and the Holy One Made Himself an offering to Ignorant, unrighteous men Who knew not what they did. It’s true, for we are witnesses; We saw Him breathe and saw Him die And sawContinue reading “Author of Life (Thursday in Easter Week)”
Breaking Bread, Mending Bones (Wednesday in Easter Week)
We had seen him do the same as this – men on mats, lame from their birth, men born blind, women who bled, rubbing mud into their eyes, ordering their legs, Continue reading “Breaking Bread, Mending Bones (Wednesday in Easter Week)”
The Consolations of Writing 