A new chapter

  Dawn came looking Dawn came looking over the sea Making its way from Wales The sun, red at first, Lit up the sky in May.  All is forgotten The long storms of winter All is forgiven The rains of December.  Bright shines the sun  Rising over the harbor Filling with light A morning of wonder.  High rise our spirits At the beginning of summer  Hope fills our breast  As we refind our courage.  Welcome these    bright days As evenings grow longer  Gold fills the sky The sea shines of silver  Birds fallen silent In quiet contemplation  Of the joy that is springing O’er a world that is sleeping.  The curtains are pulled The windows flung open The cool morning air Invading the bedroom.  Amazed by the ordinary Miracles keep giving Every day, every morning No matter our form.  Sunshine is running Across tousled bedclothes Gilding the pillows Warming our toes.  The colors will leach As the sun rises higher Leavin...

  The final laps The final laps run slower But the pleasure’s all the deeper With time to stop to watch the crowd Who watch the faster runner In the later laps the needs recede No show of virtue - just necessity  Small things confer greatest joy Thank God for smaller things.  No longer two shirts are needed When one will do quite well Give him the second who has none  The wish to accrete is gone.  Freedom comes with less clothes The naked spirit can sing  The psalms of the innocent days  When the world was contained in a cot.  Round the great wheel turns  Back to where it first begun Round our souls have come  Back to where they once belonged.  All of life is but a circle For the fortunate few who live Beyond the Bible’s best guess Surviving three score and ten.  Blessed are those who see Their children’s children’s first steps Blessed are those who last To embrace the ghosts of the past.  Old age is oft thought a burden...

  April morning   April morning has dawned Fresh with a light blue sky Filled by busy bird calls  From trees and hedges behind.  Our tiny garden - an oasis On the edge of old Dun Leary.  Proof that nature survives Even an urban setting.  Sitting as the sun is rising Over the neighbors fences Drinking in the sunshine Even as the family’s sleeping.  Hopeful morning in April March has taken its leave  The mercury slowly is rising  In the ancient barometer.  A gift to Clare Fitzgerald  A wedding gift in the year She married Charles returned Decorated from the Great War.   His two medals sit in a case In the study overlooking the sea The weather gauge looks down the stairs Witness to their private history.