Clear Blue Sky

 

Looking down from a clear blue sky

Is this how angels view

The earth below?

How many changes they must have seen

From the paradise of Eden

To the waste of World War II

 

I wonder what they think

Of what I now see:

The skyline of Manhattan

Trying to reach their home,

The docks of New Jersey

Monstrous human creations

Or the splendour of Giants Stadium

A new church for so many?

 

I am sure they think

“What has man done

To the beautiful paradise

They once saw below.”

The human creations failing in so many ways

To reflect that of The Creator they adore.

Looking down from a clear blue sky

I am in awe of the vastness below

Created by humans, so imperfect

Created by God, so perfect.

I wonder what God Himself

Thinks of man’s works below?

  

14^th June 2008, Newark, New Jersey, United States of America

Airport – Again

 

Different faces

Different places

Look familiar

Although never seen before.

Laptops typing

Pages turning

Or cell phones talking

P.A. announces

Robotic sounding

Flights are cancelled

Or delayed

Temperature hot and dry

Different places

All the same.

 

26^th March 2008, White Plains, New York, United States of America.

I’m Only A Kid

 

I’m only a kid

From the North-East of England

Were folks are just

So down to earth.

No one leaves that small world.

Why would they?

Everything you need is there.

 

Why then have I just driven

Down Sunset Boulevard shadowed

By the Hollywood sign?

I lived under the arch

Of the Golden Gate

And passed miles by miles

On Texas blue bonnet highways.

 

How did I manage to stroll

Along large Parisian boulevards

Gazed at St. Petersburg’s glory

And the coral filled Sri Lankan seas

And live in the bright lights

Of London Town?

Because I am blessed

And humbled by the Almighty God

As His path I’ve tried to follow

Each day He leads and guides

Even though I’m a kid

From the North-East of England!

  

9^th January 2008, Los Angeles, California, United States of America

The Woods

 

Sitting high above

The vista of green

With a tinge of gold and red

All quiet and peaceful

Nothing around.

A crack, rustle,

Breath of wind

Or an unknown creature

Hiding, hunting, pouncing?

Just the image of creation

Giving a glimpse of the artist palette

Before he starts

And mixes the colours

Applying the paints with the vision

In his mind completed

Draws fame and praise.

However, sitting high above

The original inspiration

The composition pales into nothing.

The first is best

The great Creators mind

Is all we need to see

And praise!!

  

10^th October 2007, Cherry Log, Georgia, United States of America

Good Friday

 

As His broken body

Hung from the cross

The sky black

The earthquake shaking the land

Ripping into half the temple curtain

“It is finished”

He screams.

The quiet.

The Messiah, the dreams

Hanging there limp

All over?

The Son of God

Put there by everyone

All our hope gone

We’re so empty

We’re dead with Him.

However, the perfection of Him

Rips the veil between us and God

As He rises in victory

The ripped curtain now the path

To hope

To life

To Him

We believe!!

  

16^th September 2007, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

Nilla’s Vacation

 

How cool is this?

I’m in the car with my people

And all the bags are packed.

Normally I don’t like them

‘Cause it means they’re leaving

Me behind.

This time I’m with them

But it takes forever

On and on in the car

It’s exciting and so tiring

So I try to sleep

Most of the way.

 

They didn’t bring the cats

Not even Jubilee

It’s just me and my people

A long, long way away.

I get to sleep on a bed

And eat treats all day.

Daddy takes me walkies

But it’s very, very dark.

I get to eat at a restaurant

My own special ordered food.

How cool is this?

I’m on vacation with my folks! 

 

29^th May 2007, Ellijay, Georgia, United States of America.

The Jigsaw Puzzle

 

Sitting across from you

As you concentrate

On the jigsaw in front of you

I realize once again

How much I love the girl

Who said “I do”

Ten years ago

That love reflected

In such a simple thing

As your radiant face

Whilst you work

On that puzzle.

  

28^th May 2007, Ellijay, Georgia, United States of America.

Poets Inspiration II

 

I wrote many years ago

How when in the Lake District

Of merry old England

That inspired the great poets

Like Wordsworth, Tennyson and Keats

How I understood

Where their creations

Could come from

So deep inside

Inspired by the hills,

Lakes and trees.

 

As I sit here

Surrounded by trees,

Mountains and clouds

Rolling in over the peak,

I feel the same.

My mind has peace

But, ideas are flowing

Circulating around and around

With thoughts of love,

Nature and joy.

The inspiration as

Those of old.

A new continent,

Different hills

The lakes replaced by Appalachians

With God’s glory.

Reflections just the same

Inspiring just the same

If only my words could portray

Just a fraction of what I see

And what I feel!

  

28^th May 2007, Ellijay, Georgia, United States of America

Vacation Morning

 

Waking up

No alarm ringing

Its light

Not dark

I don’t have to

Jump out of bed

And straight into the shower

I can take my time

What to eat for breakfast?

And eat leisurely

No phone ringing

No e-mail beeping

Just peace and quiet

I’ll read

I’ll write

Spend time with my wife

No worries

No stress

Just me

My thoughts

My time!

                                                                        28^th May 2007, Ellijay, Georgia, United States of America

Real Dark

 

Away from the city

Not a glare in the sky

I can’t see my hand

In front of my face.

 

The noises that surround

Of wind, birds and bees

Seem so loud and clear

As if they did not exist before.

 

Time moves so slow

Without a pressing need

Except to enjoy and listen

To the world all around.

 

Although it’s “real” dark at night

A light is triggered within

As God’s created world

Comes back in to sight.

 

Away from the city

Not a glare in the sky

Not a man-made sound

Peace is where we are!!

 

 

27^th May 2007, Ellijay, Georgia, United States of America

What Would I Feel? V – Easter Sunday

 

What would I feel

That Sunday morn

When the woman came running from the tomb

And said they’d seen the risen Lord?

Would I believe?

Or would I doubt, call them crazy and walk away?

What would I feel

If I’d been on the road travelling

When He’s joined the walk?

Would I realize who it was?

What would I feel

In the room with the disciples

When He appeared again

And we could touch His wounds

As He shared our meal

As He explained the Scripture?

Would I finally understand

Who He was

What His mission was

And that He is the Son of God?

 

9^th April 2007, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America

What Would I Feel? IV – Easter Sunday

 

What would I feel?

That Saturday when it was all over,

The cross empty on the hill,

The stone over the entrance of the full grave?

Would I have walked away,

Back to my life before He came?

Would I hide, afraid to proclaim

That I was one of His?

Would I have met with the other followers

Uncertain what to do next?

Would I have understood His teaching

As to what was going to happen next morn’?

   

6^th April 2007, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America.

What Would I Feel? III – Good Friday

 

What would I feel

If I’d been with Him that fateful day?

Would I run and hide?

Would I, like Peter denied

The one whom I’d followed all these years?

Would I be at the foot of the cross

With Mary His mother?

Would I have joined in the joke

“If you’re the King of the Jews get us down from here”?

 

What would I feel

When through the agony and suffering

He cried “Father forgive them”?

Or when He shouted

“It is finished”.

Would I be amazed like the centurion

And say “Surely this is the Son of God”

Or would I slink away

Scared, frightened, confused with dreams broken?

Would I understand the event the happened

And that would continue to play out?

6^th April 2007, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States of America