This dead line isn't
an alive line - it's
the end of the line
that chimes with little
and ends with a full stop
that's not a little empty
and that's not going to end there
not by a long chalk
at least not til it's taken its toll
and without being asked
you begin to see
that it tolls for thee.
And between its last echoes
this dead line declines
your pleas for more time
So this is indeed
do or die time.

I hold with care the value of
The Wait
despite the loud backdrop of
The Immediate.
I relish
The Not Yet,
not looking for a premature rush into
The Unfinished.
I anticipate
The delicious Hope,
ignoring the clamour of dissent.
And not taking anything for granted,
I do all I can to clear space:
space to listen with intent
and space to herald
The Promise of the Soon,
The ready-coming-King,
and space to embrace
The God-with-us
Now.

Some will sing of Scotland,
its heather and its hills
Some will sing of sunrise,
the coming of new dawns
Some will speak of hidden gems
some of treasured pearls
But I will sing of Alba Flower
when kneeling in my prayers.

I will thank my Father God
that she came before the dawn
that in the deepest night
Alba's bright new light was born
I will thank him for the joy
of finding this precious pearl
and thank him for entrusting us
with this wee bonnie girl.

The thrill of hope
A hope of promise
Behold the birth
Of joy and solace

The birth of love
A love for life
Behold a child
A born delight

None of my best friends
are poets

They live different
They walk faster
They're more organised
They have more friends

They are readers
occasionally
And writers
spasmodically
- never pathologically

My best friends
are breakers of silence
and I need them more
than they need me

my rosie
leaves, moves through pallets,
rises through the afternoon quiet,
strengthens, peaks,
reaches a crescendo,
a swallow of poured
perfection
and tells me
she is sweet enough

The lie is that
where I lie
no one else
sees or cares for -

That the world lies
someplace else
somewhere different
separate
alien.

I hear the lie out loud
and drown out the voices
so I must imagine
the sound of truth
so that one day
I might recognise it
and we will lie together.