The Anonymous Donor
- Details
- Written May 2011
Who stops when others move
Past the one waylaid and robbed;
Going beyond first aid
To pay for convalescence;
Un-named, but remembered
As the good man from Samaria.
Unwrapped from a widow’s headscarf
The coppers drop on the plate
Hardly worth a farthing;
Embarrassed giving in secret
Yet in complete devotion to the One
Who sees what’s intended and rewards
With centuries of being remembered.
We’d have wished it to be anonymous
But hands clap behind the scenes
As we click ‘donate now’
With a name, address and postcode
Added in Times New Roman
For the twenty percent gift-aided by the tax man -
I don’t know his name either.
May 2011
Thoughts on Matthew 6: 1 – 4 ‘...... do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. '
Walking with a Younger Man
- Details
- Written August 2024
Millennial granite from depths deep down;
Memories of past falls become footholds for the future,
Upheavals erupting into new landscapes,
Roots exposed, adding beauty and obstacles,
Rock pulverised to shale, ground into sand
That might comfort the foot but add another hazard.
So I need someone beside me, my rod and staff;
Just two walking poles adding security
As I plod through the forest of gloom
Until I reach the glory of the summit and see what’s beyond,
Discovering it was me who made it after all,
And that beauty may be on the horizon but joy is within,
Preparing me for tomorrow’s uncertain future.
Saleve, Geneva
August 2024
Cappuccino, please!
- Details
- Written May 2025
As the banks close
And competition grows
While parkers go RingGo,
Or find somewhere else
For their coffee and cake,
As the geese huddle together
With a glance at the skies
Waiting for the worst,
Knowing they’ll survive.
But Joëlle shudders with uncertainty,
Placing her trust in the one who is willing,
But these days seems powerless
With the forces of nature that go their own way.
An evening with Chislehurst Artists in Joëlle’s Coffee House.
RingGo: a cashless parking app
Joelle means: God is willing
May 2025
Via Alpina
- Details
- Written September 2011
No starter’s gun; no stop-watch timer;No tape to break; no bar to cross;
No hurtling hurdles or pointed pole;
Just the joy of one foot after another
Placed on the path set out for us
On ridge after ridge, one view after another
Testing anatomy in rarefied air
Pumping red cells through dilated vessels;
Muscles tingling at full stretch
With pleasure – sheer pleasure.
Then looking back on the way behind
To what we thought impossible – now accomplished
As we fold up walking poles, pack away boots
Until next year.
September 2011
After André completed the Via Alpina
Click here Via Alpina to view photos of the hike from Rochers de Naye to Montreux
Vita
- Details
- Written May 2025
But her poetry brings her to life
As we listen, intent of finding her
In the lines read from the folder,
And we hear what she saw as the seasons pass,
The mind creating our own picture of what is seen,
While she gazes down satisfied,
Brought to life in the big room
Of her beloved library,
Surrounded by volumes of her creations,
Smiling and pleased that her final line ends
Not buried in time
But with another smile
Returned with understanding.
Sissinghurst,
May 2025
On listening to National Trust volunteer, Sue Lowen. reading some of Vita Sackvile-West’s poetry