Poet's Corner!
Don't Give In
When the odds appear all stacked against you
And you feel you have reached your wit's end,
Don't throw in the towel or give up the ghost,
For with courage you'll make it my friend.
When it seems that you're destined for failure
And that maybe your last chance has gone,
When you've come to the end of your tether,
Then just tie a knot and hang on.
For soon you'll see things will get better
And a loss can be turned to a win,
And the reason you are able to triumph,
Is because, you just didn't give in.
Colin Hammacott
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Joys Of Spring
We may shut our eyes
But we cannot help knowing
That skies are clear
And grass is growing;
The breeze comes whispering in our ear,
That dandelions are blossoming near.
J R Lowell
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Road Of My Desire
O thou who dost direct my feet
To right or left where pathways part,
Wilt thou not, faithful Paraclete
Direct the journeying of my heart?
Into the love of God, I pray,
Deeper and deeper let me press,
Exploring all along the way
Its secret strength and tenderness.
Into the steadfastness of one
Who patiently endured the cross
Of Him who, though He were a son,
Came to his crown through bitter loss.
This is the road of my desire -
Learning to love as God loves me,
Ready to pass through flood or fire
With Christ's unwearying constancy.
Frank Houghton
(1894 - 1972)
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Easter Night
All night had shout of men
And cry of woeful women filled his way;
Until that noon of sombre sky
On Friday, clamour and display smote him;
No solitude had He,
No silence, since Gethsemane.
Public was death;
But power, but Might,
But life again, but Victory,
Were hushed within the dead of night,
The shuttered dark, the secrecy.
And all alone, alone, alone,
He rose again behind the stone.
Alice Meynell
(1847 - 1922)
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Mothers' Day
A very happy Mothers' Day,
To all the mums out there,
Warm messages sent to you,
Showing that someone cares.
Fondly you raised us up,
With your Motherly love,
All actions been blessed,
From Heaven above.
When we are growing older,
Advising us as best you can.
Teaching all things new,
Since our lives began.
The knowledge you mums
Can give in support to us all,
Helping sons and daughters,
To each stand firm and tall.
Dean Martin (congregation)
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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In
Flanders' Fields
In Flanders' fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved,
and
now we lie in Flanders' fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high,
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders' fields.
John McCrae, 1915
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Our Friend
You're the Alpha and Omega
The beginning and the end.
The God in whom we place our trust
And utterly depend.
You're the one who's all forgiving
And kind and trust and true,
So merciful and powerful -
Who can compare with you?
You are mighty and majestic
Yet gentle as a dove,
Delighting in Your children
Enfolding us in love.
Compassionate and full of grace
And faithful to the end,
We come with hearts of joy to serve
Our saviour and our friend.
Kathleen Gillum
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Autumn Song
October is a piper,
piping down the dell -
Sad sweet songs of sunshine -
Summer's last farewell,
He pipes till grey November
Comes in the mist and rain,
And then he puts his pipe away
Till Autumn comes again.
Margaret Rose
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Sun And Moon
The moon shines clear as silver,
The sun shines bright as gold,
And both are very lovely,
And
very, very old.
God hung them up as lanterns,
For all beneath the sky,
And nobody can blow them out,
For they are up too high.
Charlotte Druitt Cole
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Tall Trees
With their feet in the earth
And
their heads in the sky
The
tall trees watch
The clouds go by.
When the dusk sends quickly
The birds to rest,
The tall trees shelter them
Safe in a nest.
And then in the night
With the tall trees peeping,
The moon shines down
On a world that's sleeping.
Eileen Mathias
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Summer Days
Sing a song of summer days, leafy nooks and shady ways,
Nodding
roses, apples red, clover like a carpet spread;
Sing a song of running brooks, cans of bait and fishing hooks,
Dewy hollows, yellow moons, birds a-pipe with merry tunes.
J W Foley
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Haytime
It's Midsummer Day
And they're cutting the hay
Down
in the meadow just over the way, 
The children all run
For a frolic, and fun -
For haytime is playtime out in the sun.
It's Midsummer Day,
And they're making hay
Down in the meadow all golden and gay,
They're tossing it high
Beneath the June sky,
And the hay rakes are spreading it out to dry.
Irene F Pawsey
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Ascension
(Luke 24:44-53)
Scriptures fulfilled,
Minds opened,
We followed Him to Bethany.
And there was joy in the blessing.
Of our risen Lord,
Jesus, God on earth.
And in the blessing
Was the leaving,
And in the leaving
Was the blessing -
His spirit of life and power
To witness to the world
Of our ascended Lord,
Jesus, man in heaven.
Daphne Kitching
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Pilgrimage
Control me, O my God,
Gently pervasively, irresistible, increasingly;
So that I walk my pilgrim way
Steadily and in a sure light,
So that I neither dally nor disobey,
Nor slip aside, nor stand still,
nor sink down.
Control me, O God,
By the pulse of thy presence,
By the brightness about me;
By the spur of spiritual longing
After thy holy praise,
After the image of thy Son;
So that I move onward and upward with a song,
And melody in my heart.
Eric Milner White
1884 - 1963 and a former Dean Of York
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Night Of Spring
Slow, horses, slow,
As through the wood we go
We would count the stars in heaven,
Hear the grasses grow:
Watch the cloudlets few
Dappling the deep blue.
In our own palms outspread
Catch the blessed dew.
Slow, horses, slow,
As through the wood we go
All the beauty of the night
We would learn and know.
Thomas Westwood
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Two Onto One
Rachel's not friends with me, she says that I smell.
She's poisoned Rebecca against me as well.
They won't share my hymn book, or help mix the paint.
They say if I'm near them they both want to faint.
They're whispering about me, they giggle and lie,
I know tears will spill out If I open my eyes.
Why are they mean to me?
What have I done?
It never seems fair, when it's two onto one.
Daphne Kitching
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Song (from The Husband Of Poverty)
There was a knight of Bethlehem,
Whose wealth was tears and sorrows;
His men at arms were little lambs,
His trumpeters were sparrows;
His castle was a wooden cross,
Whereon he hung so high;
His helmet was a crown of thorns
Whose crest did touch the sky.
Henry Neville Maughan
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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The Servant Girl
Mk 14:53-72, Mk 14:50, Isaiah 53:3
It was all kicking off in the courtyard,
the courtyard of the house of Caiaphas, where I work.
They dragged in the man from Nazareth,
took him into the house to face the whole council -
and those brought to give evidence.
I know half of them, they'd say anything for a few pieces of silver.
He had no-one to defend him, to speak or stand up for him.
Even his followers had forsaken him and fled.
His face full of sorrow, but somehow, not for himself.
As I passed, he looked straight at me,
and I knew that sorrow was for me.
I wanted to stay with him,
but I had fires to feed in the courtyard.
And that's when I noticed him,the one who'd been there
that day in the Temple, the one who had been with Jesus.
I was sure it was him, Peter, I think was his name,
here, now,
just when his master needed him.
But he denied it.
He denied been one of them.
He denied knowing Jesus.
And then the cock crowed.
I remember those eyes,
and I know
why Peter wept.
Daphne Kitching
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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In The Wilderness
Christ of his gentleness
Thirsting and hungering
Walked in the wilderness;
Soft words of grace He spoke
Unto lost desert-folk
That listened wondering.
He heard the bitterns call
From ruined palace-wall,
Answered them brotherly....
And ever with him went,
Of all his wanderings
Comrade, with ragged coat,
Gaunt ribs - poor innocent -
Bleeding foot, burning throat,
The guileless old scape-goat;
For forty nights and days
Followed in Jesus' ways.
Sure guard behind him kept,
Tears like a lover wept.
Robert Graves 1895 - 1935
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Following The Star
Our writings say
That come the day,
An infant's born up in a promised land,
A great new kingdom will be just at hand,
And there'll be a star to guide us on our way.
We're going on a journey,
We'll
be travelling very far,
We're following the star.
That time has come,
That star is there,
It beckons gently with a silvery hand,
And whispers softly, "Come and find the land".
And we say "Let's go! Lets go, without delay".
We're Going on a journey,
We'll be travelling very far,
We're following the star.
We'll bring our gifts of precious gold,
Of frankincense and myrrh,
To honour His birth with all of the things
That any earthly kingdom would prefer.
But yet we know that His kingdom's not
In any one country;
It's really a place where everyone is kind,
And good, and honest, and truly free.
His kingdom's built in the hearts of you and me.
We're Going on a journey,
We'll be travelling very far,
We're following the star.
David Woods (a member of our congregation)
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Remembering, Remembering and Remembering
(1 Corinthians 11:24,25)
We remember, while we live,
We who breathed with them.
Photographs and anecdotes,
hold meaning now,
But
our children's children will see only
Images in boxes,
Flat and far-away strangers.
And those who lived and loved,
Who fought and died,
And those who stayed at home and
soldiered on
And bravely to their pillows cried,
Will we remember them,
as November claims,
Or just the sadness of that list of names?
A
different remembering there is,
A re-enactment, a continuing
Through past, present, and future of his gift.
Linking lives of faithful witness.
In this remembering we live, who believe,
Knowing the love poured out for us.
Christ died, is risen and will return,
Do this in remembrance of me
Do this in remembrance of me
We will eat,
We will drink,
Living our remembering in love
Until he comes.
Daphne Kitching
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Zacchaeus
(Luke 19:1-10)
I wanted to sit here
And watch him!
Just watch the man Jesus walk by.
Hidden by the leaves,
Hidden from the loathing of my lifestyle
I simply wanted to see him
From my tree.
As I search for his face
He found mine,
Reached where I was and looked up,
Looked into the heart of my being,
And Jesus did not walk by,
He came to me,
He spoke to me,
A tree is not a hiding place, my friend,
Believe me.
Come down from your tree,
Come down and be different,
Come down and change your world,
Follow me.
Daphne Kitching
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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October
I've brought you nuts and hops; and when the leaf drops, why, the walnut drops.
Crack your first nut and light your first fire, roast your first chestnut crisp on the bar;
Makes the logs sparkle, stir the blaze higher,
Logs are as cheery as sun or as star, logs we can find wherever we are.
Spring one soft day will open the leaves,
Spring one bright day will lure back the flowers;
Never fancy my whistling wind grieves, never fancy I've tears in my showers;
Dance, night and days! And dance on, my hours!
Christina Rossetti
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Harvest Song
The boughs do shake and the bells do ring,
So merrily comes our harvest in,
Our harvest in, our harvest in,
So merrily comes our harvest in.
We have ploughed, we have sowed,
We have reaped, we have mowed,
We have brought home every load,
Hip, hip, hip, harvest home!
Anon
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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September
There are twelve months
throughout the year,
From January to December -
And the primmest month
of all the twelve
Is the merry month of September!
Then apples red
hang overhead,
And nuts ripe-brown
in the bountiful days
of September!
There are flowers enough
in the summer-time,
More flowers than I can
remember -
But none the purple, gold
and red
That dye the flowers
of September!
And the sun looks through
a clearer blue,
And the moon at night
sheds a clearer light
On the beautiful flowers
of September!
Mary Howitt
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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God's Fingerprints
God has signed his signature
Across the midnight sky,
His hands have placed the stars in space
Beyond the naked eye.
On snowflakes, birds and butterflies
And waves upon the sea,
On seashells on the sandy shore
His fingerprints we see.
Mountain peaks and singing streams
The clouds, the earth, the land,
Each living thing all bears the stamp
Of his creative hand.
In colour, texture and design
On blossom, bud and tree,
He leaves his hallmark everywhere
For those with eyes to see.
Kathleen Gillum
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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The Difference
So often
I can't wear the right clothes,
Speak the right words,
Fit the right mould,
Be the shape people want me to be,
Expect me to be,
Demand that I am,
To conform.
But you Lord
Accept me,
Release me,
Make it possible to be me,
Perfectly free
In your service,
Open for you
To transform.
Daphne Kitching
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Jesus Our Life Long Friend
Lord Jesus, You hold Your arms out wide,
You embrace us with Your love;
The Holy Spirit we have inside,
Sent to us, from the Lord above.
Throughout the Holy Scriptures, Lord,
You teach us to love one another,
To follow in the Christian way of life,
To honour thy father, and thy mother.
You gave the Sermon on the Mount,
And taught us how to pray,
How to follow the will of God
As we travel along life's way:
We were baptised when we were small,
About the Christian faith we learned,
We carry on proclaiming our love of God,
On the day we are Confirmed.
We know, O Lord, You remain with us all,
In every single thing we do;
Along the way we may stumble or fall,
But our faith will strong in You:
Sometimes, when things seem hard to bear,
We're not sure which route to take;
We are never alone, You are always there,
Through all the decisions we have to make.
You guide us every single day,
Your love for us will never end,
You're forever there to show the way,
Lord Jesus, our life long Friend.
Yvonne Gallagher
Courtesy of Link Magazine
(Yvonne, a member of our congregation, wrote this poem
in celebration of her Confirmation in St. Matthew's on June 6th)
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When The Spirit Came
I denied Him,
Watched Him die,
Despaired, then dared to hope
When Mary told of the tomb.
Oh, yes He died,
And
oh, He rose again -
My Jesus,
Just as He said.
I saw Him,
Ate with Him
Early in the morning
That day on the shore.
He spoke of following and feeding,
He spoke of the spirit,
Of waiting and witnessing.
And we did wait
When he left us.
We waited, in obedience this time,
In Jerusalem,
And the Spirit came.
In wind and in words,
In power and in praise,
In heavenly tongues of fire,
And then we witnessed,
Oh we witnessed to the world
Of our Lord Jesus -
When the Spirit came.
Daphne Kitching
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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The Cross, Our Inspiration
Jesus carried the rugged cross
Upon His back that day,
They would not believe just what a loss
His crucifixion would convey:
No
one was allowed to give Him a drink,
Nor help Him bear the weight,
They did not stop, they did not think,
Until it was too late.
The Lord's crucifixion went ahead
And darkness fell around,
Then came the words that Jesus said,
These words that did astound:
"Forgive them Father", said the Lord,
"For they know not what they do",
So now for all eternity
We know He died for me and you.
No matter if we're not perfection,
The Lord loves us all the same,
The first to see His resurrection
Was Mary Magdelene:
It doesn't matter to the Lord above
Where in society we stand,
He gives His unconditional love,
He holds us in His hand.
The cross is a symbol of His love,
It guides us on our way,
It shows the way to live our lives,
Our inspiration day by day.
Yvonne Gallagher
from our own congregation.
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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Thing Of Worth
Lord,
Teach me to see Your hand in things
Around me everyday.
Help me to be aware of You
Throughout my work and play.
Acknowledging Your beauty in
The velvet sky at night,
In silken petalled flowers
And in the morning light.
In beauty of a peaceful sea
And glint in early dew,
The outline of a graceful tree
And in the rainbow's hue.
In all the little creatures
That live upon this earth -
Give me O Lord, a seeing eye
To know the things of worth.
Kathleen Gillum
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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A Mother's Prayer
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my sanity to keep.
For if some peace I do not find,
I'm pretty sure I'll lose my mind.
I pray I find a little quiet,
Far from the daily family riot.
May I lie back and not have to think
About what they're stuffing down the sink,
Or who they're with, or where they're at
And what they're doing to the cat.
I pray for time all to myself
(did something just fall off a shelf?)
To cuddle in my nice, soft bed
(oh no, another goldfish dead!)
Some silent moments for goodness sake
(did I just hear a window break?)
And that I need not cook or clean
(well goodness, even I can dream!)
Yes now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray my wits about me keep,
But as I look around I know,
I must have lost them long ago!
Courtesy of Link Magazine
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