Night Mail

I've been thinking about trains a lot in the last couple of days. Not sure if it's because of the ongoing strikes and pay disputes or something deeper, but that, along with watching a TV programme last night on how train carriages and the driver's cabs are created, has put me in mind of the …

If, by Rudyard Kipling

I was researching this poem to use one of the couplets in my sermon tomorrow, and I thought it might be nice to share the whole poem with you today. Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how (and why!) I included a bit of it in church. Grace and peace Pam x Rudyard …

Sonnet 98

From you have I been absent in the spring,When proud-pied April dress'd in all his trimHath put a spirit of youth in every thing,That heavy Saturn laugh'd and leap'd with him.Yet nor the lays of birds nor the sweet smellOf different flowers in odour and in hue Could make me any summer's story tell, Or from their …

Spring Poem

Daffodowndilly by A A Milne She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,She wore her greenest gown;She turned to the south windAnd curtsied up and down.She turned to the sunlightAnd shook her yellow head,And whispered to her neighbour"Winter is dead"

The Caveman’s Lament

I take absolutely no credit for this poem, but had to share it with you because it's so good! Thought to be the world's oldest poem, written about 1.5 million years ago. Happy Valentine's Day everyone. To single people, married people, people who don't want to be single, people who don't want to be married …

January Poem

As we approach the end of January, I thought I'd share a little poem with you. Hope you like it and I hope it helps shift these January blues for you.

Chain of Events

I have been tinkering with some material for my upcoming TMA for my OU module, and I have come up with this poem. It is a villanelle, which is a stylised form of poetry that conforms to certain rules. It's a bit complicated when you first look at them, but having worked on this for …

My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose

In honour of the Scottish poet Robert Burns, who is celebrated on the 25th January on "Burns Night", here is a video I have produced of a musical setting to the verse "A Red Red Rose". The poem was written in 1794 and the music was composed by Gordon Langford for brass band around 200 …

Rob’s God by Gerard Kelly

I was introduced to this poem this evening and I wanted to share it with you today. It is written by Gerard Kelly in memoriam of Rob Lacey, an author who wrote a version of the Bible called "The Street Bible".  I want to follow Rob’s God; God the goal of my soul’s education. Rob’s …

Do You Haiku?

If you had asked me that question before today my answer would definitely be in the negative. Not just a "no", but a "who me? Do those difficult poems? That clever people do??" But I thought I'd give it a go. Here's my first attempt - please be gentle with your critique...   Rain slicing …