Frozen poem

Frozen

It hurt me to hug you
Nothing personal
Frozen shoulder

Looking for a reason
A cause
Something or someone to blame

But so what?
It hurts is all

Glad not to see him - homeless poem

Glad not to see him – homeless poem

Young man begging outside the coffee shop 8am.
I come out and put £2 into his paper cup.
He thanks me and gives me a deep look
- He's seen me and seen me seeing him.
Something real has happened.
I am touched by his look,
It’s not anguish,
He’s not pleading
It’s two humans connecting.

Some weeks pass
And I get in the habit of
Giving him a couple of quid
Today I finally puck up the courage
To talk to him
Have you anywhere to stay?
No but I’m on a waiting list for a hostel
It’s been 5 months
I keep going back to them.

I’m appalled
5 wintry months sleeping in a car park
I hope he’s fallen through the net
This is Manchester 2016
Surely we wouldn’t leave people on the streets over winter?

Just saw the young homeless man again
He has an appointment next Tuesday
And hopes never to see me again
I hope so too
He crosses himself

He has taught me
It’s not enough to just give money
There is a person on the other side
Sparing a few words is important too
For both of us

It’s Wednesday 8am now
And there is a space outside the coffee shop
And he’s not there
I miss him
But I am glad not to see him

Grey Power

Grey Power

Me thinking
Old people were weak and frail
Yes
But their spirit is strong
And
Despite
Or even because
Of how they suffer
They support each other
And their children
And their grand children

So don‘t feel sorry for us pensioners
But
Treat us with some respect
We have earned our stripes
Our marks
Which we carry on our backs

So when you see
A group of us
Up to no good
Don’t write us off
Or if you do
More fool you

Even politicians
Are not stupid
To ignore grey power

Finally
And inevitably
You will become
One of us
In time
(Or die trying)

Singing for Chernobyl

So a strange thing happened to me at my choir's rehearsal yesterday. We were preparing to perform at a concert for Children in Chernobyl and signing a wonderful song from Hawaii called E Malama and when we got to the words 'Hold this land in sacredness' I just had to weep. I sat down and buried my face in my hands. People were great and I was naturally embarassed and lost my usual English sense of reseve. Maybe it was the inner Wlshman coming out. This helped cope with the concert especially hearing the heartrending thngs that happened to all especially the children. Here's my my formal piece:

Hold this land in sacredness

I am not sure how much you can change the world for the better by singing; but certainly we know that choirs can improve the health of their members and probably their audiences too. And a choir can lend it support to people and causes that make a difference. That was so with the Manchester Community Choir’s concert yesterday in support of the Chernobyl Children’s project. It has been 30 years since the nuclear power station disaster at Chernobyl and it was heartrending to hear of the suffering that still continues to this day but also uplifting to hear what help was being offered especially to the children still affected by nuclear radiation. Our choice of songs reflected this situation. We sang Durme a poignant Judaeo Spanish lullaby from Sarajevo and E Malama a Hawaiian song that includes the line ‘Hold this land in sacredness’. Besides our choir there were some lovely uplifting songs from Linda Harvey, Russian music from the Manchester Balalaika Youth Orchestra, and some moving words written by people affected by the disaster read out by Artists for Peace. It is not too late to support the project more details from














Chernobyl Children's Project - Supporting the Children of Belarus

Welcome to the Chernobyl Children's Project (UK) homepage. CCP (UK) supports families in Belarus that have been effected by the Chernobyl disaster.



chernobyl-children.org.uk

Poem

Lying in the bed

In pain

I hear the birds sing

With all my gratitude - poem

With all my gratitude

I am feeling spoilt
In this moment
So much given to me
I don’t deserve it

But that is not it
I am deeply thankful
And a little scared
To whom so much is given
So much is asked

But you have given me
The joy of this sunrise
The gift of this food
The grace of this company

And still I fear what is asked of me
But
I can do what I can do
Walk the next steps
On this journey of life
Greet fellow pilgrims
Share in their pain and pleasure
And offer of myself unto them
As necessary

I can’t deny my gifts
Limited as they seem
But if I can render unto you
I will

Give me a place to stand
And people I can be of use to
And I will plant seeds
Whether they grow I cannot tell
And that is not my task

May rain fall and sun shine
And these words blossom
In all that seems true
With all my gratitude.

Musings

When I was a young man I remember thinking, ‘If I can’t be happy in love then at least let me be famous.’ Later as a therapist people sometimes treated me as special on account of how transformative therapy can sometimes be. But in more recent years it is so clear to me how ordinary I am and that I am/was pretty good at my job but that’s it. Now that I am winding down out of the academic world after 20 years I can’t believe how quickly that time went and how over it now feels despite my remaining one day a week temporary contract! Today the ordinary me is noticing the birds and nature more, feeling humility at my GPs surgery this morning – what’s my shoulder problem compared with some of the poor ones waiting in line with me? And so thankful for how well I am just now. Then a bit of shopping at the local bookshop, some philosophical banter with the shop assistant in Boots, a ‘Hello’ to our old postman and to my daughter’s primary school best friend and her dad. Simple things part of a simpler life but still oh so precious. I want to savour the time I have left and today I am truly thankful.