Qualified by grace to share in the light And the kingdom which shines like His chrysolite face, I enter the throne-room, a beggar, no right, While the one spotless lamb hangs in my bleeding place. Unsettled by striving, cast out of the race (Failing to run and nose-diving my flight), I hold the gold laurel,Continue reading “Colossians 1”
Tag Archives: grace
Solitude and Grace (After William Cowper’s “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk”)
One of William Cowper’s more famous poems, “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk” takes on the perspective of the real-life inspiration for Robinson Crusoe, a buccaneer cast away on an island in the South Pacific for four years. Though much less famous than Defoe’s novel, Cowper’s poem brought English the saying, “The monarch of all I survey”.Continue reading “Solitude and Grace (After William Cowper’s “The Solitude of Alexander Selkirk”)”
Quatrain (V)
And so it seems to me that I Might rest now underneath Your sky, Sunset like redeeming blood, The rainbow-aftermath of flood.
Quatrain (IV)
More generous than all my dreams could make You, You overflow when I am most dry. When my heart proves me false, You prove most true, My failure the question, Your love the reply.
Guarantor
There is no guarantee Within me Of righteousness or future glory, No guarantee Of how the story Will resolve. Yet in You in see, Only in Your pure blood, Continue reading “Guarantor”
The Answer
I am between writing projects at the moment, my liturgical poems on hold for a month until the last day in the calendar that I have yet to write about – Ascension Day at the start of May – and being yet to begin my Christian poets project (which you can expect to see meContinue reading “The Answer”
Nine Quatrains (Easter Vigil)
I. And so, the domes and waters in their place, He made His image-bearers shine His face. He looked on them and called them very good Who only trusted what they understood. II. The domes thrown into disarray to flood The earth and turn the man of dust to mud. Yet one remains toContinue reading “Nine Quatrains (Easter Vigil)”
The Soul’s Travail (Good Friday)
After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:11) High and lifted up Astonishing the faithless many Kings with mouths agape yet shut And hearts with closed fists Lifted high aboveContinue reading “The Soul’s Travail (Good Friday)”
One Day
This poem isn’t much more than the literary equivalent of doodling. But it is the first night of the school holidays, the eve of Good Friday (and with it the night before a church service which I am contributing some poetry for), and the end of a difficult week emotionally, so I felt in needContinue reading “One Day”
The Former Things (Monday in Holy Week)
See – He who stretched the heavens out with His hands And spread out the earth and all it contains, Whose breath fills our lungs with infinitude, Who beckons us in with His arms – He sees the smouldering wick in the dark And the reed that has been bruisedContinue reading “The Former Things (Monday in Holy Week)”
The Consolations of Writing 