every group
each tribe or nation
certainly every religion
has signs and symbols
initiation ceremonies, rituals
membership cards, passports
shared activities and actions
core archetypes of identity
all adding up to belonging
I am, you are part of .....

on the eve of Passover
as the lambs were sacrificed
unleavened bread broken
wine of blessing poured
he took that bread and wine
'this is my body, my blood
broken, poured out for you'
himself the Passover lamb
body yet to be broken
blood still to be daubed
on the upright, the lintel
of the cross, that doorway
to God's saving love and justice
and we are invited in, to be a part
joined, belonging, incorporated
in all that was accomplished
by the mystery of the cross
communion in self-giving love
what then does this opting in
require of, mean for us, for me


Maundy Thursday
17th April 2025
following Matthew 26.17-19, 26-29

tefillin, mezuzahs
tied to arm and forehead
fixed to doorposts
carrying the Law
commands for holy living
expectations of godliness
symbolically borne

bread and wine
patten with chalice
aumbry and monstrance
the presence of Christ
in which we are enjoined
to transform and renew
signs seeking holiness

beyond such symbols
outwith the bounds
of fastened scriptures
bread broken, wine outpoured
surpassing desire for control
religiosity in all its power
to find thin places of being
generational becoming
God in encounter


Third Sunday of Lent
23rd March 2025
following Deuteronomy 6.4-9
Luke 22.14-20

if Trump has abolished diversity
by presidential decree
has he abolished himself
his alternative truths and facts
or just other's diversity?

I love those irregular verbs
of the English language:

I'm a unique individual
You're a little bit weird
He's a total wacko

slowly they make their way
to rubble piles they once called home
passing graves marked and unmarked
tens of thousands, numbers mounting
plus those uncounted 'neath the stones

slowly they make their way
those held hostage, long imprisoned
freedom restored and families renewed
past shrines to the dead and missing
hundreds by name and photo known

conflict on hold, maybe
hundred year war and more, on pause
mediation notwithstanding
battle for twice claimed land's too fierce
for hatred's cauldron, what hope peace?

chance that diff'rent vision
might disrupt war's propaganda?
work for peaceful coexistence
disarm ethnic cleansing's purpose
in this unholy Holy Land?

yesterday
a peacetime king
riding a donkey
entered the city
the people cheered
victory palms waved

today
a prophet
in the temple
that holy place
proclaiming truth
overturning tables
scattering the market
"my house shall be
a house of prayer
but you have made it
a bandits' den"
dodgy politicians'
invisible clothes
warlords'
justification
abusers', exploiters'
power base
my?

and tomorrow?


Monday of Holy Week
14th April 2025
following Luke 19:45-47

it had been a bad week
seemed as if he wanted trouble
saying what he said, doing as he did
he knew how to push all their buttons
challenging their authority, their rules
putting them on the spot, no evasions
never backing off despite their anger
it was no surprise he was arrested
mock trial, ******* up charges
guilty verdict, a cross and death
we'd tagged him as the Messiah
but now he's dead, buried, gone
well there was some crazy story
the Marys said they'd seen him alive
but who'd believe that, as I said, crazy

that's what we told him
when he fell in step along the way
travelling with us to Emmaus
listened to all we'd had to say
then started unpicking our story
for everything we'd mentioned
had an explanation, gave a reason
why it had to happen that way
what was really going on
how it fitted into God's plan
explained it from the scriptures
like he was giving us a lesson
Jesus 1.01, the real story

near Emmaus it started getting dark
he was going on but we'd a room, food
so we invited him in, things may change
but hospitality's still usual, our norm
as a guest, we asked for his blessing
so he blessed and broke the bread
did the same for the wine, shared it
and suddenly we recognised him
as if our grief had made us blind
how could we have missed it
like that last supper once again
it was Jesus, and he is alive
chance meeting, no chance

couldn't leave it there
hot-footed it back to Jerusalem
had to tell the others, the disciples
said our piece in the upper room
but it was all a bit redundant
we'd no sooner told our tale
than he turned up there too
living, breathing, wonderfully alive
yet despite all that he'd said
its hard not to have questions
all kinds of puzzlements
and whose going to answer them


Wednesday of Easter Week
23rd April 2025
following Luke 24.13-35

hammering home the nail
hand-picked or bequeathed
which picture to hang?
to set aside, let go?

and of those books
well thumbed and worn
which takes its place
in straitened space?

at the changing of the guard
what fails to make the cut?
cherished yet not enough
treasured but relinquished

they saw the cliff edge
getting nearer and nearer
he wouldn't, couldn't
it's all just bluster
it's got to be
then

the edge gives way
solid crumbles
void opens
the expected
the reliable
the certain
all that was sure
those fixed points
on which we relied
everything trustworthy
emptying to nothing
falling into, well who knows
signed away, lost, abandoned
by presidential decree
plunging


22nd March 2025

'For you are the God who takes no pleasure in wickedness; 
no evil can dwell with you'.
Psalm 5.4



this is better than that
more truthful, more honest
has more integrity, is more just
more loving, more merciful
has more compassion
gives more hope
trusts more

all day, every day
we make judgements
rarely ever polarities, absolutes
at the ends of the spectrum
I decide between nuances
my chosen subtleties
of distinction

how then to navigate
the spheres of earth and heaven
my fallibility facing the holiness of God
exposed to his unambiguous call for
purity, goodness, self-giving love
to which I can only ever aspire
in my broken inadequacy

yet time and again
stories of hope surface
those expecting condemnation
finding forgiveness and mercy
an encouragement to start over
not where I am that matters
but the course I set


Monday of the Third Week of Lent
24th March 2024

lies, **** lies and statistics
they used to say ...... but

now it's lies, **** lies, president and his cronies
social media barons and propaganda
alternative truths normalised

trust lies on its death-bed
poisoned
sacrificed for power

alternatively ........

they stood at the graveside
icy February winds
sleet near horizontal
wrapped tight against the cold
feet sinking slowly in the mud
sad for the dearly departed
truly heart-broken
but mostly thinking of the pub
a roaring fire, a glass of .....
and getting warm again, please

a particularly viscious blast
the vicar's glasses fly
bouncing off the coffin
splashing in the mud
six feet under
he carries on trying hard
to remember the words
he stumbles to a halt
looks up, around
trying to focus on blurry faces
raises his hand in blessing
'for what we're about to receive ......'

10th February 2025

the journey to that table had been long
each with a different starting point
everyone of us chosen, called
picked by him to be a disciple
strengths, weaknesses, blind spots
came as we were, all somewhat changed
yet still as we'd always been

why he picked me I do not know
the accountant, a money man
someone trusted to keep the books
you might say a wise choice
but he knew me too, the hidden me
the Romans labelled us as terrorists
me and my freedom-fighter friends

and we knew what we wanted of him
after all these centuries of *******
Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans
he was a leader, very much the real deal
the sort folk would follow to hell and back
may have wanted me, but did I want him
with him at our head we could not fail

turns out he had different plans
no matter the nudges, the promptings
he would not budge from his path
power given not taken, self-giving love
care for the poor, the broken, the outsider
challenging our leaders, their hypocrisies
he's served himself up for the inevitable

so here we are, at the tipping point
me with just one hand left to play
carry on as he's doing, stick to his plan
he'll be dead meat before the week's out
force the issue, if I re-focus his thinking
maybe, just maybe he'll take our side
and with him as our leader watch out

so we come to it, the critical moment
all together for that Passover meal
"one of you will betray me", he said
"one who dips his bread with me"
mind you we all did that, dip, betray him
deny, run, thirty silver pieces, all the same
but he knew, I could see it in his eyes

the dice rolled, events are now in play
soon the action begins, Gethsemane
will he be there, of course he will
he'd never do a runner, not him
but will he take the bait, rise to the hook
become the leader we know he could be
or have I condemned him, and me too


Wednesday of Holy Week
16th April 2025
following John 13.21-32

reflected, refracted
sun in a dew drop
captured by the melt
like diamonds
hanging from twigs, branches
falling through the void
fire in flight

2nd March 2025

nails, spear, tomb
dead, buried and gone
their hope for a renewed
transformed future lost
utterly defeated
death reigns
for one man
for humanity
they were certain
friends, opponents
authorities alike

except that
in defiance of reason
contrary to all expectation
death is far too small a thing
to constrain, to make an end
of love in all its fullness
not the anticipated
full stop

last day
in the garden she
had watched him buried
stone rolled, guard set
it was all over, done
only grief remained
aching absence

first day
she heard a word
penetrating the tears
voice unmistakable
"Mary"

dead
but no longer dead
however improbable
fully, huggably, utterly alive
even if they wouldn't believe it
accept the truth of it from a woman
debate forever what it might mean
yet whatever they may say
I know what I know
I heard, I spoke
I saw, I held
alive


Easter Sunday
20th April 2025
following John 20.1-20

they came looking for him
how long they'd been searching
we don't know, just that they sought him
but one wonders what they were seeking
did the person found match expectation
or was he indeed the disappointment
so many reckoned him to be

not the messiah
but a very naughty boy
who wouldn't play politics
rabble rouse the crowd
manipulate the institutions
raise up freedom's army
take the fight to the streets
in the way so many longed for
not what they wanted at all

certainly he disturbed the peace
thought, taught from first principles
asked the awkward questions
shone light in dark and murky corners
embarrassed leaders, the power-brokers
challenged their games and authority
put the spotlight on their hypocrisies
reveals a new old perspective of God
denying the divisions of 'us' and 'them'
time and space given to the outsider
for the outcast finding places of hope
caring for the battered and broken
those beneath fine society's notice
exploited and downtrodden in life
so reflected the world to itself
what it is, what it might be
mirrored in self-giving love
soon to be shattered
as power took its revenge
was this who those greeks sought
when they came asking
"sir, we would see Jesus"


Friday of the Fifth Week of Lent
11th April 2025
following John 12.23
& Monty Python

galaxies whirling passed infinitude
visions of history, stars birthing or long dead

a mere four and a half billion years
orbiting some star nondescript

tectonic interplay shapes by increment
mountain and valley, atmosphere and ocean

while locked in rocks of geological time
fearsome jaws, bone-crushing teeth

yet predating dinosaurs most ancient
a cockroach scuttles across the floor

as hurricane's waltz, El Niño's pavane
wrap energy in wind and weather

the whole panoply of life, blue whale to virus
develops, adapts, evolves till new

so journeys **** sapiens two million years
stone tools to annihilation's potential

what is humankind that you are mindful of them
human beings that for them you care?

when humanity has carved its epitaph
what next for the cockroach planet?

'My God, my God
why have you forsaken me
and are so far from my salvation
from the words of my distress?'

words torn
from the darkest places
of mind, soul, spirit
no sense of hope
future possibilities
evaporated, snuffed out
in deepest despair

and yet

the words were written
pondered, reflected
became part of worship
the text of scripture

not the end

in the darkness
a glimmer of light found
glimpse of a scintilla of hope
perhaps discovering
in the darkness, God
as much as in light

a future
different
but future
nonetheless


Friday of the Third Week of Lent
28th March 2025
following Psalm 22.1

the crack began in the garden
between the is and the intended
what could be versus what will
fissure, fault line splintering
seeming such a small thing
that decision, the apple eaten
free-will flowing of love's gift
yet responsibility demanded
opening up paths divergent


void of understanding
incomprehension a chasm
essence drowning in absence
abyss, the unknown and unknowable
yet power, wealth, authority drive
the anthem of 'I did it my way'
shaping the world to our desires
claiming mastery of our fate
the captaincy of our souls


can the gap, that widening maw
find a place, space for resolution
again finger tip to finger tip with God
some spoke of incarnation, personhood
demonstrating his character and purpose
our reality reflected in his presence
human independence disrupted
so the mirror was smashed
disturbance destroyed


"it is finished"
God's dying words
echoing into the silence

sound of the cosmos fractured
utterly, humanity triumphant
while most never noticed
business as usual
life went on



Good Friday
18th April 2025
following John 19
Paul Anka and William Henley

text without context
almost meaningless
used or misused
to justify choices
actions, inaction or
passive disengagement
from circumstances
of what has been
what might be
what is

'into your hands
I commend my spirit'
words from the cross
almost Jesus' last
his ending sounding
like failure, horror amidst
heart-break, disbelief
and yet

and yet
the words quoted
carry greater meaning
of vision incarnate, enacted
'for you have redeemed me
O Lord God of truth'
no ending here but resilience
persistence, fulfilment
and in God's good time
doors breaking open
of future hope as
the Psalmist
writes


Saturday of the Third Week of Lent
29th March 2025
following Psalm 31

another day, another bomb, another shelling
another round of death, injury, despair
families fleeing from one place of danger
to ..... well there is no place of safety
free from a bomb-aimer's cross-hairs
not watched through drone-pilot's screen
excluded from tank-driver's fire zones
trying to find such shelter as can be
surrounded by the stench of the dead
among the rubble, broken homes
shattered schools, hospitals, mosques
parents, children, old, young surviving
deemed a non-people with no rights
lives, homes, land, future extirpated
sacrificed on the altar of war
holocausts to ethnic cleansing
those long-harboured ambitions
for racial and religious purity
promised land, the river to the sea
homeland for us not them

and yet, says the prophet
'the people have forsaken me
have profaned this place
making offerings to other gods
filling this place
with the blood of the innocent'

so to whom should we listen, him
or to the politicians and demagogues
generals and war-mongers
are there no peace-makers
not the peace-wishers, peace-hopers
woe-is-us hand-wringers
nor those determined on a final solution
the land-siezers and settlers
the Costa-del-Gaza developers
for whom there is only one peace, ours
total surrender, complete exile

and yet, as another prophet said
'he will judge between many peoples
and arbitrate between mighty nations
they will beat their swords into ploughshares
and their spears into pruning-hooks
nation will not lift sword against nation
or ever again be trained to make war
but each will sit under their vine and fig tree with no one to trouble him'

except they bulldozed the vines
figs and olives


Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent
3rd April 2025
following Jeremiah 19.4 & Micah 4.3-4

shut behind gates and walls
barbed wire, guards and guns
necessities of life
food, water, electricity
blocked, forbidden
homes, health care, education
with deliberation laid waste
destruction raining down
on men, women and children
especially the children
killed to order
death by command
the next phase of that
final solution long envisaged
diligently worked towards
by those twisted visionaries
prepared to sacrifice
people deemed a non-people
whose rights and lives
are forfeit to
political decision
legal artifice
public othering
and military force
Warsaw 1940 to '43
Gaza, West Bank, East Jerusalem
to be expunged, extirpated
dead or gone

history repeats itself
it has to
no-one listens
while the world looks on
and some plan condominiums


22nd March 2025

seven days
seven weeks, seven years
no  time would have sufficed
to prepare for what came next
dead then alive, that was hard enough
you know the story, know how it ends
we were living it one day at a time
one new impossible after another
because then he says "go"
"go into all the world
make disciples of all nations
baptise them in my name
God who is Father, Son and Spirit"
what can prepare you for that
where to start, how to begin
well that's another story
today that word is enough
to wrestle with, focus on
'go'

Saturday of Easter Week
26th April 2025
following Matthew 28.16-20

so many ideas about god
different races, different peoples
each with their own ideas
cultural, national, universal
mono or polytheistic
worship of the planet
of characteristics thereof
or human rationality
ourselves in the place of god

so many resolving
into what justifies my thought
my wishes and actions
what I do and fail to do
me, my people, my race, my nation
so many supporting
us rather than them
the elect against the outsider
our people not the foreigner
and when push comes to shove
those conflicts and wars
that such divisions always bring
the gods back me not you
they're on the side of my battalions
my ends justifying the means
my might always being right
or so my take on the gods tell me

so what is the power and purpose of god?
what difference does he/she/they make?
why this god not that god or any god at all?

perhaps we need god
recognising our faults and failings
the limits to understanding and wisdom
a universe so far beyond comprehension
our finite and limited thinking
facing questions beyond discovery
perhaps we need the awkward questions
god keeps disconcertingly asking
how we justify what we do
our use and abuse of power
the way we do relationships
from home, to work, to nations, to religion?

there was a backwoods preacher
who held up a mirror before us
our being and doings
our actions and inactions
'love the Lord your God
with all your heart, mind, soul and strength'
it's easy to say we do
that we accept external scrutiny
but the evidence says otherwise
then he stretched our thinking
'love your neighbour as yourself'
reminding us our neighbours
include those we think of as enemies
or consider us the same
so he said 'love your enemy
and pray for those who persecute you'
and persecute you they will
for the powerful hate nothing more
mark out as their enemy
than those revealing their power
abused in contrast to such love
so 'love as I have loved you'
sacrificially, self-giving, unbounded
by time, space or circumstance
not theoretically but actively
'to love mercy, act justly
and walk humbly with your God'
and when we get it wrong
or they get it wong
for we all always get it wrong
'forgive our sins as we forgive
those who sin against us'

of course he didn't last
for those with power didn't like
the mirror he faced us with
so we had him killed, crucified
far easier to smash the mirror
than to change, transform
get rid of the nuisance
so we can get on with business
carry on as normal
with a warning left hanging there
for others with jumped up ideas
job done, so we said, so we thought .....

14th February 2025
Stephen Cooper

shame
etched deep in my soul
they all blame the betrayer
named him such through history
but he was honest in his betrayal
faced him, marked him with a kiss
eye to eye the deed was done
but me, for all my bold bluster
I'd run away, denied I knew him
not once, not twice, three times
my friend, three years followed
called him Messiah, the Christ
Jesus, denied I even knew him
so which betrayal is greater
I know my shame

after it was over
death, strange days following
Marys first, then meeting him alive
trying to work my head around it all
back to Galilee where it all began
trying to get a handle, fishing
breakfast on the beach
we know it's him
I know

eating done
a long awkward silence
which he breaks, "do you love me"
he asks, looks me in the eye, asks me
"you know I love you" muttered head down
silence you could cut, then "do you love me"
irritated, angry even, "you know I love you"
longer pause, waves lapping, fire crackles
"do you love me", not brotherly love now
but agape, self-giving love, his kind
"do you love me", thrice denied
now three times he's asked
my shame biting deep
"you know everything
you know I love you"
no condemnation instead
each time a commissioning
"feed my lambs", "take care of my sheep"
"feed my sheep", a shepherd's task and work
for me, forgiveness going beyond my shame
time to start over, whatever that means


Friday of Easter Week
25th April 2025
following John 21.15-19

go fishing, he suggested
night fishing of all things
I hate fishing, always have
could never see its attraction
but it's like a default reset for him
don't know what to do, go fishing
stuck for what to think, go fishing
Peter's 'run home to mama' mode
still we needed to get out of town
time and space to think, to decide
work out what on earth we do next
night fishing was good for that
at least we thought it would be
but the thinking and the talking
went no better than the fishing
round and round in circles
not a single bite, not a fish
no ideas about what next either
just lots of 'what ifs', nothing else
no fish and too much hot air

so there we were, out on the lake
sore, stiff, talked out, frustrated
still no fish and dawn approaching
a flame flared on the beach
someone lighting a fire
we could see him moving around
silhouetted against the flames
then a voice calling over the water
we can't have been far off shore
"try the other side"
should have heard Peter chunter
"who does he think he is
'try the other other side'
been a fisherman all my life
'try the other other side'"
but then something clicked
could almost see cogs turning
suddenly Peter's hauling nets
calling to Andrew for help
throwing them over the other side
the boat takes a lurch
tips over, lines taut, net full, fish
Peter shouting "get them landed"
leaping over the side
splashing fast for the shore
and the clock's spinning back
like some kind of time machine
that other catch, that other beach
we know who he is, the voice
the man calling across the water
calling us to breakfast, and ....


Thursday of Easter Week
24th April 2025
following John 21.1-14

Mary said
‘Here am I the handmaid of the Lord
let it be with me according to your word.’

there are handmaids
and then there are handmaids
what you make of them
their choices and consequences
depends upon the tale
how you choose to read it, or tell it
child-rearing or parenting
a decision freely made
adventure however challenging
willingly undertaken
or 'choice' that is no choice
subjection by culture, law or force
coerced, imposed, exploited
a baby factory
to be used, used up, discarded

some things don't change
roller-coaster  hormones and emotions
****** changes, welcome or not
the hours and pains of labour
post-partum complexity
the what and how of this child
sleep-deprivation, exhaustion
hopes, fears, love, hate, anxiety
and all the pains of letting go
whether compelled, forced
or because that's what must be
growing into who they should become

said to Mary, said to all mothers
'a sword will pierce your own soul too'


The Annunciation
25thMarch 2025

walk down the passageway
journey into darkling gloom
accompanied by names
slowly read, persistent
insistent with each step
another and another
and always one more
a hundred, a thousand
tens of thousands
and still the names roll on
into the dark for days, weeks
turn a corner into the black
enter the glass labyrinth
surrounded by pin-***** lights
by the hundred, by the thousand
by the myriads of thousands
five small flames
reflected and reflecting
and reflected ever more
in remembrance
of the children

a million and a half
shot, starved, gassed, burnt
the diabolical villainy
the evil of the camps
of the planners and designers
of the builders and profiteers
of the guards and politicians
and of those who looked away
and still the names roll on
insistent and persistent
into the dark for days, weeks
a hundred, a thousand
tens of thousands
hundreds of thousands
the children
dead

walk down pathways
into the **** zones
of kibbutz and concert field
to burial grounds and memorials
or between the piles of rubble
once houses and flats
shops and mosques
hospitals and schools
now carrying the stench
of death, the un-buried
beneath shattered concrete
by the hundred, the thousand
though not yet the million
no-one reading their names
no memorial disturbingly peaceful
but still it's the children
their deaths, each death
an evil chosen, consummated
by the planners and strategists
by the zealots and profiteers
by the military and politicians
and by those who look away
the children
always the children
forever the children
dead

holocausts
each and every one
of humanity
of hope

searchlight cutting the skies
lighthouse signifying safety or danger
dim bulb faintly illuminates the darkness
waving phone-lights signalling connection
purposeful light with laser sharp focus
light creeping around locked doors
lantern searching out the path
torch of the night time guide
starlight crossing the eons
in waves and photons
signature of creation
foundation of life
then there is light
that's the source
the light of lights
in whom is our
being


Wednesday of the Third Week of Lent
26th March 3025
following John 8.12

'Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said. "One can't believe impossible things."

"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."'
(from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)


never mind the White Queen
said the grinning president
those billionaires whispering in his ear
as he signed more executive orders
while falling down the rabbit-hole
the world has never seen
how many impossible things
I can order before breakfast
it'll be beautiful, fantastic
no one's imagined what I can do

..... so don't worry about the convictions
being a self-confessed ****** predator
those lies, alternative facts and truths
they make me who the people love
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I don't need any government
to tell me what I can't do
sack them all, they're bad, all bad
I don't need evidence I just know
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and don't worry about Congress
the rioters got it right
but now they're mine, I own them
why wouldn't they want me?

..... and the Supreme Court
my placemen and women
they say nothing I can do is illegal
the divine right of kings
why wouldn't they want me?

..... and forget the Constitution
only two terms of office
I can remake it in my image
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I've got God sorted
told him he's on my team
on the side of the big battalions
that might is indeed right
the end does justify the means
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I can take over Greenland
Panama and Canada
make them American states
citizens to salute the flag
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I can do a great real estate deal
transform the Middle East
Mar-a-Gaza will be a great resort
what's wrong with ethnic cleansing
it's only a couple of million people
send in the bulldozers let's get started
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I've torn up all those Treaties
countries need to get on board
do things my way, the American way
or they'll get what's coming to them
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and those wars, terrible
they'd better stop when I say
or all hell will break loose
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I'll shut down trade
unless they do it on my terms
let America dominate the world
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I'll kick out the foreigners
round them up, send them home
(except those my companies need)
build the walls higher, deeper, wider
why wouldn't they want me?

...... and I'll ...... hell I'm the President
I can do anything I want
six impossible things before breakfast?
I'll  make America great again
re-make it as Trumpland, Mar-A-merica
I've barely got started
let's do the deal
it'll be beautiful, fantastic
why wouldn't they want me?

12th February 2025

indisputably elected
with his proven track record
according to the courts
of criminality and lies
and clear from his own words
a confessed ****** predator
while evidenced by his deeds
power pursued and abused
yet elected nonetheless
an unchallengable right to act
however illegal for others
by judges made sacrosanct

"we hold these truths to be self-evident
that all men are created equal ....... '
though some more equal than others

'God bless America', a fading hope
America dominated by power, undoubtedly
but at whose expense, the question?

I know how I like the world to be
settled, ordered, secure, a safe place
to live and grow and have my being
but it's not like that, never has been
fantasy, a miasma of self-delusion

those certainties to which I hold
less solidly founded than I thought
even the chair in which I sit to write
sub-atomic something held in nothing
by bonds of quantum uncertainty

thus far the best that imagination
from manifest ambiguities distilled
an unknowing, a beyond knowing
oft found too disturbing to be owned
undermines my longed for certitudes

scaffolded by definitive predictability
my life patterns, its structures interact
with rules, laws of finite vision reinforced
ruts that stasis and stupor deeply carve
which is fine until the infinite disrupts

creeping up or chaotic in cataclysm
the tectonic plates of existence shift
bonds of grasped reality dissolve
bewilderment in discombobulation
audacious reconstitution required

what to hold fast
of eternal significance
or heading that way
which to let go
to release
refuse


6th May 2025

from top deck of the bus
train's window seat
fleeting glimpses
kaleidoscopic images
a yard, a garden
old and cherished
a beloved motorbike
bonfire smoke, barbecue aroma
discretely hung washing
somewhere to soak up the sun
privately to luxuriate
life's obsolescence stacked high
junk by time abandoned
secret worlds observed
tantalising perspectives
enjoyed with guilty pleasure

predator watching, waiting
yet statuary stillness
belies instant readiness
the moment to strike
action, a blue-orange flash
with beauty, death's killer splash
'ere serenity resting

you couldn't blame us
doors locked, windows barred
they'd arrested Jesus, killed him
how long until they'd come for us
only Peter and John had ventured out
check the women's story, unbelievable
empty tomb, angels, 'he is risen'
yet it was just as they'd said
but what to make of it

then there he is
standing among us
do we touch, can he speak
is he a ghost or is this really him
'how about something to eat'  he says
fish cooked, he eats, no hallucination
you can still see the marks of the nails
flesh and blood he's alive, we know it
it can't be true but it is, we've seen
what does it mean, dead, alive
and then he's gone

resurrection's synagogue talk
end times, God's final judgement
but this is real, this is now, Jesus
what are we to make of it all
who'd believe us anyway
need to think it through
all that he had to say
a lot to take on board
to get a handle on
so where to begin
and is the place to do so
behind locked doors


Tuesday of Easter Week
22nd April 2025
following Luke 24

of heads

survival of the fittest
the selfish gene
Darwinian evolution
where might is right
the exercise of power
for me and for mine

and tails

kenotic love
for neighbours, strangers
persecutors even enemies
transcending evolution
power that benefits all
a mutual flourishing

and spaces interweaving

I will be your god
if you will be my people
ever a choice
maybe


Second Sunday of Lent
16th March 2025

tectonic normality
fractures, crumbles, falls
disconcertingly rearranges itself
the ground beneath my feet undone
all my expectations and certitudes
the very heart of being, my feel for it
solidity ebbs and flows, liquefaction
sure foundations tsunami swept
certainties overwhelmed
ruptured, erased
gone

temptation
to stack up the debris
rebuild as best as may be
from ruins some semblance
of what was, had been before
clinging to that cherished past
dug from memory's museum
while gathering the shards
too hard to contemplate
metamorphic future
outwith engagement
unknown, unsafe, risk too far
not to be trusted, and yet
entirely inevitable

change
adaptation
evolve or die
as always it was
and forever will be
normals old to new
despite protestations
and attempts to ignore
so in the flux, the vortex
where is certainty found
to what can I hold fast
that endures forever
in the maelstrom
the crucible
me


Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent
4th April 2025
following Psalm 102.12-13

plodding along
step after step after step
watch where I put my feet
avoiding what's slippy
those ankle-turners or worse
footing secure, certain

head in the map
compass course followed
way-markers ticked off
position checked
careful at the tricky points
definitive route trod

journey completed
an end point achieved
but missing the wonder
eyes never lifted to the hills
disconnect from the glory
created and creator
this thin place
avoided entirely
wasted, gone


Monday of the Fifth Week of Lent
7th April 2025
following Psalm 121.1-2

the list is endless
through the pages of history
women known and unknown
though mainly unknown
as men mostly wrote the histories
women who between them did it all
led countries, commanded armies
designed, built, discovered, explored
researched, taught, sang, danced
painted, sculpted and otherwise created
prophets, priests, monastics
doctors, the wise women
wives, mothers, life-bearers
and so, so much more

so on Mothering Sunday
or Mother's Day as some would have it
we remember them, celebrate even
flowers, chocolates, breakfast in bed
all a bit saccharine, a touch twee for
the resilience, the grit, the determination
it takes to be a woman, a mother
in all the complications and
complexity surrounding such words
managing the stuff of daily life
not just in nice comfortable places
with relaxed cosy lifestyles
but in the war zones, disaster areas
floods, droughts, earthquakes
facing economic exploitation
*** trafficking, as migrants
caring, consoling, healing
doing what needs to be done
to make homes, raise children
somehow keep family going
knowing in the end to keep them
you have to let them go
bone of your bone
flesh of your flesh
'a sword will pierce
your own soul too'

such women, such mothering
is deserving of celebration
so, to misquote Ben Sira
'let us now praise famous women,
and our mothers in their generations'


Mothering Sunday
Fourth Sunday of Lent
30th March 2025
following Luke 2.33 & Ecclesiasticus 44.1

funny how they stick
across time, through history
amusing or cruel, justified or not
simply a given, no choice, **** it up
Judas the Betrayer, Doubting Thomas
true I wasn't there at that first meeting
him shiny and new, risen from the dead
they had their chance to see, to touch
know the truth of it for themselves
we'd all seen him dead and buried
they'd needed to be sure he's alive
why should it be different for me
yet asking earned the nickname
they'd have had their questions
just the same if they'd missed
but that moniker stuck fast
it's how you remember me
those many centuries later
doubter, not certainty seeker
yet that was not my story's end
not once I'd got my head straight
no sir, places to go, people to tell
"go", he said, "into all the world"
so I did, took him at his word
travelled all the way to India
telling folk about Jesus, his
life, death AND resurrection
not letting up till the day I died
Doubting Thomas they call me
let facts speak for themselves
discover who he made me
go beyond the nickname
if you tell my story


Second Sunday of Easter
27th April 2025
following John 20.19-35

envisioned:
a city of hope
where justice rules
compassion reigns
kindness flourishes
mercy walks the streets
the thinnest of places
of encounter
to live, to know
the source of being
even as we are known
locus of becoming

experience:
fighting for holy
places and spaces
temple, synagogue
church and mosque
for control of access
correct understanding
suppression of alternates
perceptions and theologies
the slaughter,  the horror
the blood soaked land
always the land

Jerusalem


Second Sunday of Lent
16th March 2025

celebrations in the street
the possibility of one small step
in the vague direction
well not of peace
but of ending the hot war
of the active shooting
the bombs, the missiles
the utter destruction
and holding of hostages
a ceasefire

....... maybe

maybe if what's been agreed holds
maybe if the killing stops
if the hostages are released
if the soldiers pull out
if the obliteration ends
if there is security from attack
if there is land justice
if rebuilding can begin
if there is hope for a different future
if ........

but so much has been destroyed
so many lives lost
so much land stolen
in over one hundred years of conflict
seventy-five years of war
ebbing and flowing through the decades
so many still dreaming of ethnic cleansing
politicking and fighting to make it happen

....... maybe a ceasefire
but peace? don't hold your breath

they've taken their land
or at least most of it
their homes and farms
businesses and communities
they control their water
their borders, their rights
deemed them a non-people
they aren't Palestinian, they say
and Palestine is not their home
never has been, not legitimately
so say their usurpers
hiding behind their legal fictions
with judicial expropriation
and apartheid-like laws
waging their hundred year war
of slow, steady ethnic cleansing
following the Joshua model
the curse of destruction
by armed settler land grabs
bomb and armoured bulldozer
supported, encouraged and funded
by allies across the world

ignored are the peacemakers
foundering are reconcilers' hopes
parched, those who hunger
and thirst for saving justice
shredded by propaganda
bombed into submission
swamped by a sea of indifference
the wrong side of history
politically dispensable, disposable
it's open season ........

sensory explosion
sound as the bottle opens
pure nard pouring slowly out
smell hitting olfactory nerves
so powerful, overwhelming
taste of the perfume in the air
spreading over feet and floor
love's extravagance enacted

reception, reaction
his shock at waste, anger even
300 days of wages lost, all gone
should have been for the poor
welcome, acceptance
you'll always have those poor
this was for me, for my death
because she loves, audaciously

what prompts such profligacy
or turns love to faithlessness
no enemy would sell him out
take those thirty pieces of silver
rather his chosen, familiar friend
who'd heard the call, walked the walk
love, now that we understand
betrayal grows in our dark places


Wednesday of the Fifth Week of Lent
9th April 2025
following John 12.3-5 & Psalm 55.13-16

how many layers
what depths of strata
are sufficient for interment
it's six feet under for a body
but what's needed to bury deep
failures of omission and commission
twists and distortions of mind and spirit
those things of which our souls are afraid
though we find the old labels disturbing
iniquities, transgressions and sins
whether acknowledged or not
uncomfortable or worse
disturbance too great
to take ownership
a risk too far
easier to deny
to hide from them
pretend their not mine
but I can't forever evade
be on the run, trying to escape
who I am good, bad and indifferent
responsibility, the start of becoming
honesty, the beginning of wisdom
opens the door to forgiveness


Saturday of the Fourth Week of Lent
5th April 2025
following Psalm 32.5-6

looking up at the heavens
ancients saw bears, hunters, *****
shapes of exotics in all kinds
today's wonders are galaxies
black holes, echoes of 'big bang'
the patterning of the universe
and magnificence closer to home
the complexity of life, its variety
DNA, the internal logic of being
fibonacci to chaos to fractals
matter's quantum existence
searching out the patterns
the very stuff of the cosmos
purpose and meaning if any

but who gets to decide
some say survival of the fittest
the strong, the brightest, the best
adaptation and evolution forever
sustaining species across the eons
or chasing an environment receding
planetary, universal inconstancy
shaping shadows of apocalypse
planting, nurturing the seeds
of our own inexorable extinction
who gets to decide

yet may the pattern differ
something bigger, more complex
birth, death, evolution, extinction
the rise and fall of species
star systems and galaxies
entropy playing enthalpy
catastrophe versus creation
annihilation or ex-nihlo spark
dancing to a different tune
omega transmutes to alpha
death becomes resurrection
daily little deaths or the last
beauty of the broken salvaged
love's creative urge driving
a birth, nascent recasting
shaping old patterning anew


2nd May 2025

"blessed are the peacemakers"
said a wandering teacher
not merely the peace-hopers
peace-wishers or peace-dreamers
"love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you"
was more of his teaching too

a much diff'rent train of thought
from that of the Colt salesman
"precision, accuracy
balanced and reliable
it's 'the gun that won the west'"
Peacemaker, alternate kind
your choice, your consequences

many the gurus people follow
seeking for some wisdom
touching base with eternity
hoping to, or at least trying
if it's not too disconcerting
a disturbing of the peace

then there are the prophets
bringing a frisson of dis-ease
expecting, demanding change
but which change, what purpose
and how to test their validity
the real deal or some crank

what they're peddling, that's the question
the status quo disguised, reinvented
might's right, ends justifying the means
God on the side of the big battalions
or love God, love the world, love others
sacrificially,  though it cost you your life

not a lot of mileage the world says
for those crazy ways of thinking
when so much more's on offer
who would choose such a path
acting justly, loving mercy
walking humbly with God, who


Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent
10th April 2025
following Jeremiah 23.16-18 & Micah 6.8

while writing in this form demands control
to squeeze ideas within its metric frame
as rhyme and rhythm work to make the whole
concocting words with fiercely burning flame
to touch the heart and so the soul reclaim
from this dour world with all its cant and show
and raise such peace and joy with hope proclaim
so gaining traction transformations flow
that shape afresh to lift above our earthly woe

Easter Monday
he is not living, he's dead
other realities pending
Il Papa, Holy Father, the Pope
this was his home, his basilica
St Peter's, heart of a church
they'd known he was poorly
prayed for him even
and now he's died
a few flags flying at half mast
Carabinieri out on the streets
world's news teams gathering
stories to be told, vox pops recorded
'I was there when the news broke'
yet Rome goes on, normale
as usual tourists everywhere
pilgrims on Via della Conciliazione
school trips snake through crowds
cafes, restaurants ply their trade
buses and trains keep rolling
Roma to play Inter Milan

the Pope is dead
a conclave will gather
black smoke, then the white
and a new one will be elected
for now more important questions
dust off the plans, make new ones
prepare for the influx, the bookings
ready the beds, plan for extra supplies
what's it going to do to the traffic
how will it affect my commute
been here before, will again
life goes on, it has to
long live Il Papa


22nd April 2025
Stephen Cooper
Rome

begun, a roman funeral
tale of two cities, very different
one commerce, politics, tourism
carryies on with its usual energy
another surrounding St Peter's
the square, basilica, vatican
concentrating on preparations
ceremonies for handling a death
crowds forming, quiet and not so
police and officials keeping order
presence needed yet not required
tented Croce Rossa clinics arrive
media sets up shaping stories to tell
techies fixing screens and speakers
for those gathering too many to see
overwhelming in inevitable bustle, yet
quietening hush, sensed anticipation
thin place of the spirit approaches
something almost tangible
the time to say farewell
normale

who will be remembered
surrounded by cardinals, drama
caught up in the liturgy of the church
one to whom the doors of power opened
who politicians, world leaders attend
some from respect, others for duty
and those who seek a holy veneer
to cover shabby politics, evil even
will they remember him
maybe

who will the people recall
for whose soul do they pray
just one such as themselves
humble, gentle, generous, kind
or trying to be, most of the time
priest of the barrios, the favelas
spending his last days in blessings
children, poor, prisoners, migrants
praying for peace, calling for hope
amidst all the world's conflicts
so many exploitations, wars
using nearly his last breaths
yet who'd ask us to pray, not for
the leader of the Catholic Church
Pope Francis, Il Papa, His Holiness
heir to the keys, the throne of St Peter
but pray for the soul of Jorge, a sinner
whom with love we commend
to the mercy of God
normale


Saturday of Easter Week
26th April 2025
Rome