a tree God is a tree said Kabir a tree in the forest; when the woodsmen come to cut Him down He will not defend Himself He will not shame them. And God, he said, is the earth an endless wonder that allows Himself to be ruined by us but He […]
And so the season changes
Posted on by James Woodward
Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away; Lengthen night and shorten day; Every leaf speaks bliss to me Fluttering from the autumn tree. I shall smile when wreaths of snow Blossom where the rose should grow; I shall sing when night’s decay Ushers in a drearier day. Emily Brontë
Inhabiting RS Thomas on his own soil
Posted on by James Woodward
It is a long way from Salisbury to the Llyn Peninsula. This was a pilgrimage of sorts to the RS Thomas Poetry Festival. https://rsthomaspoetry.co.uk/ The slow and wet journey north was worth every turn in the road and queue ad a number of speakers broke open the words for the gathered pilgrims. RS Thomas […]
Patience
Posted on by James Woodward
patience An absolute patience. Trees stand up to their knees in fog. The fog slowly flows uphill. White cobwebs, the grass leaning where deer have looked for apples. The woods from brook to where the top of the hill looks over the fog, send up not one bird. So absolute, it is no […]
of grief …. and getting past it
Posted on by James Woodward
Starlings in Winter by Mary Oliver Chunky and noisy, but with stars in their black feathers, they spring from the telephone wire and instantly they are acrobats in the freezing wind. And now, in the theater of air, they swing over buildings, dipping and rising; they float like one stippled star that opens, becomes for […]
Patience
Posted on by James Woodward
An absolute patience. Trees stand up to their knees in fog. The fog slowly flows uphill. White cobwebs, the grass leaning where deer have looked for apples. The woods from brook to where the top of the hill looks over the fog, send up not one bird. So absolute, it is no other than happiness […]
Reading David Whyte – Consolations
Posted on by James Woodward
We live in strange times. Listening to this mornings news adds to the complexity and anxiety. The junior doctors strike which informs us to avoid being ill this week. The advance of AI and its implications for our knowing and understanding. The preparations for the visit of President Biden to Ireland as they mark the […]
‘Bedtime’ Reading : Super- Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
Posted on by James Woodward
Being confined to quarters while a bout of flu ( or something – I have never been very good at diagnosis ) and amidst cancelling appointments ( sorry ) and searching for paracetemol brings some gifts. Determined to leave the e mails to answer themselves ( wouldn’t that be nice) I decided to have a deep […]
Hearing God in Poetry by Richard Harries
Posted on by James Woodward
Hearing God in Poetry Fifty Poems for Lent and Easter Richard Harries SPCK 2022 This is the time of the year when some turn to the possibility of taking something up for the season of Lent as part of a pilgrimage of disciplined and intentional spiritual learning. Some will join a Lent course. Others […]
Poetry and Dementia
Posted on by James Woodward
Poetry and Dementia: A Practical Guide John Killick Jessica Kingsley Publishers 2017 ISBN: 9781785921766 £16.99 I wonder what your relationship to poetry is? I have met some people that simply do not get this way of expression; others who simply haven’t got the time or the inclination to attend very closely to the […]
Poetry on Sunday
Posted on by James Woodward
a lyrical manifesto for large-hearted living. Walk through life Beautiful more than anything Stand in the sunlight Walk through life Love all the things That make you strong, be lovers, be anything For all the people of Earth You have brothers You love each other, change up And look […]
The Windows
Posted on by James Woodward
The Windows Lord, how can man preach thy eternall word? He is a brittle crazie glasse: Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford This glorious and transcendent place, To be a window, through thy grace. But when thou dost anneal in glasse thy storie, Making thy life to […]
understanding people ?
Posted on by James Woodward
Affinity Consider this man in the field beneath, Gaitered with mud, lost in his own breath, Without joy, without sorrow,… Without children, without wife, Stumbling insensitively from furrow to furrow, A vague somnambulist; but hold your tears, For his name also is written in the Book of Life. Ransack your brainbox, pull out the drawers […]
Glass
Posted on by James Woodward
glass It is like the light coming through blue stained glass, Yet not quite like it, For the blueness is not transparent, Only translucent. Her soul’s light shines through, But her soul cannot be seen. It is something elusive, whimsical, tender, wanton, childlike, wise And noble. Joyce Kilmer
Praying for Peace
Posted on by James Woodward
and listening to the voices …… Erich Fried When we were the persecuted I was one of you How can I remain one when you become the persecutors? Your longing was to become like other nations who murdered you Now you have become like them You have outlived those who were […]
empty hands
Posted on by James Woodward
they go there with empty hands What do they do, The singers, tale writers, dancers, painters, Shapers, makers? They go there with empty hands, into The gap between. They come back with things in their hands. They go silent and come back with words, with tunes. They go into confusion and come back with […]
Tulip
Posted on by James Woodward
tulip Perhaps the tulip knows about impermanence and that is why, on a green stem it carries a wine cup in the wilderness Hafiz, (re)transl. Tom Davis
Light
Posted on by James Woodward
light O splendour of what is, by which I saw the high delight, the true communion: please show me how to say all I could see. Up there there is a light. The light is God. Creation contemplates its own creator, and only in that seeing is there peace. It stretches in a circle […]
Blossom
Posted on by James Woodward
blossom There are days we live as if death were nowhere in the background; from joy to joy to joy, from wing to wing, from blossom to blossom to impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom. From Li-Young Lee, From Blossoms
people vote for different reasons!
Posted on by James Woodward
crystal I am unjust, but I can strive for justice. My life’s unkind, but I can vote for kindness. I, the unloving, say life should be lovely. I, that am blind, cry out against my blindness. Man is a curious brute — he pets his fancies — Fighting mankind, to win sweet luxury. […]