the world still turns
the geese remind me
they will be back you know
you tell me
and we shall see them
hope
Answer me what I am
Are you guessing? You are. It’s your turn. Very well. OK. I am cold.
– Are you ice? Are you winter? Are you your tiny hand?
Sweet but not honey. Don’t say honey again.
– Honey? Not honey. But sweet. Sweeter than hope?
Cold, cold and sweet, and sometimes quite hot.
– Is it you, are you your heart, is it your possibly potentially possible love for me of which we have never spoken?
[…]
– … your love for me?
No. I am ice cream on the beach. Let’s not play again.
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
sea-blue flowers sway
beyond the sandy slopes
the tide is on the turn again
and as it turns brings hope
Fresh green against impossible blue
Birdsong loud in crystal air
Spring bursts through unfurling leaves
Hope and glory
Hope and you
Views
My friends tell me they can see the sea
from their window.
Closer is harder, they say; in sight is in mind.
From my window, if I wipe it,
I see the other side of the cut through,
barred windows breaking up the brick facade.
I have never seen that nest before,
broken twigs, dropped feathers.
I back away from the window.
I do not want to frighten hope.
In the deepest corner
In the deepest corner of his heart – and he had a very deep heart, as his future life would show – he found the tiniest ember of heroism. He found it and breathed softly on it and it grew and grew until it filled his heart and the flames began to dance behind his eyes and he stood up and said ‘I will. I’ll do it’. And though there was no one else there in the room in the house in the street somehow others heard from him and took heart from his courage and from that moment the tide was turned. It was not over but we knew one day it would be. And that is why we are here to remember.
one day this will all be over
one day this will all be over
and then
and then
in the darkness snow falls
in the darkness snow falls, covers snowdrops
green heart quivers
daylight cracks unclouded sky
iced snow shields the living
Michael, Glasgow
He was sobbing. I stopped. It was minus five degrees.
His ma had just died. She was a great wee woman who hated that her son was a junkie. It was minus five degrees.
He sat crosslegged on the filthy thin sleeping bag on the pavement. Someone had paid for him to stay in a B&B for two nights but then the money ran out and he had to leave. He sobbed. It was minus five degrees.
He could have a hostel bed in three nights’ time but now he was on the streets and scared to death. His ma had just died. It was minus five degrees.
She loved him but she just couldn’t cope. I held him tight as we hugged. He sobbed. It was minus five degrees.
New endings
years end every year
new beginnings
hope
simonsalento 