A wise old man

A wise old man

Sat on his Garden bench.

He counted butterflies

and watched the sunbeams

Dance their merry dance.

Birds sang

Cats purred

His dog snored happily at his feet.

A young girl

Came dancing

Along the grassy path

Her ringlets

Bounced in the sunlight

And her laughter

Made the old man smile

She told him all her hopes and plans

Of where she’d one day be

A dream that had to be fulfilled

A life for all to see

He sat and thought for just a time

And then he asked her why

She thought that that was just the thing

To make her life worth while

She hesitated not a bit

But answered straight away

Her friends had told her

Every one

That this was just the way

A house , a home, a family

Success in every way

A life like everybody had

There was no other way

And then the old man looked with eyes

So clear and oh so blue

And asked the simple question

“But will your dreams come true”?

That love you hold inside your heart

Will it come back to you

Those dreams you dreamed

When you were young

Will they come true for you?

The young girl laughed

At such a thing

So foolish and arcane

I’ve asked my mother I’ve asked My love

My friends all say the same

He said its only

When you ask yourself

What’s deep inside your heart

That you’ll get the courage to fulfil

A life that has to start

With giving more than you receive

And trust that day will come

When you will get it back again

Because you’re with the one

Who loves you just for who you are

Not who your friends perceive

He’ll know just what is best for you

Because it’s he who knows your dream.

This was not what she wished to hear

And so she went away

The old man smiled

And lit his pipe

And dozed the day away.

The Garden

A young child sat in a garden

Kissed by Springtime sun

Engulfed in the warmth of

Sweet smelling Spring flowers

Peaceful,

 Serene

Secure

Pets played, Cats strayed

And a red rooster

Trumpeted his authority over all

A young boy played in his garden

Where grass grew tall

And trees stood firm

Beside the rippling waterfall

Strong

Permanent

Secure

Friends played, set in shade

And traded stories by the Summer wall

A young man walked in his garden

With a beautiful girl by his side

They sat on swings and dreamed of things

Their love they could not hide

They walked out from his garden

And talked with all their friends

They laughed

They cried

They lived their dreams

Till one by one they died

An old man sat by his garden

Amid the Winter snow

Alone and scared and lonely

With nowhere left to go

He sat and cried a lonely tear

And wiped it from his face

He cursed the emptiness and cold

Of this his special place

A stranger he had never seen

Was standing by his gate

And silently he opened it

Was this stranger Fate

He raised his hand and beckoned him

The old man went along

He entered through his garden gate

And heard the birds in song

And standing there to meet him

Were all his friends of old

And all the trees and flowers

And sunshine shining gold

A strong man sits in his garden

His happiness complete

For every trial that came his way

He did his best to meet

He didn’t claim to understand

He didn’t need to know

Why all this sadness followed him

Or why his friends must go

He simply tried to lead his life

As well as well he could

And hoped to meet along the way

Some people just as good.

JM 2003

Journey’s End

Rest now

   My timorous Sparrow

Still

Your heaving breast

Reflect

a while in your private world

Soon

You will spread your wings

And fly

Like an Eagle

King

Of your blue and sunny sky.

For Ciarán 1^st Nov 2000

The Smile

Yesterday

I saw a smile

On the face of a child

It was the same smile

As was on the face of my father

Many years ago

Alive

Expectant

And wonderous

Where from

Came such simple beauty

The Minder

Who are you Mr King?

Son of Ghandi or

Father of Romero?

Christ Personified after 2000 years

Or merely a fragmented mirror

Of an aspirational reflection

And yet they continued

Theresa

Dali Lama

Even Geldof, in his way

But where are you now

In this world of greatness

Power and political Giants

Or is this perhaps the evil you spoke of?

If so then we will not find you

 in the open Mr King

But you have not yet sung your finalé

Time World

Barcelona, Freddie Mercury,

Where to begin and where does it end?

I spoke to a man today

Who used to be a friend

He said that that world had passed away

But when and how could it end?

They say that life is a journey

Caught in the web of time

With temporal rules and feelings

Like a poem it has to rhyme

Yes life itself is simple

It has its course to run

It’s pain and jubilation

Are laid out end to end

It’s not for understanding

Or even to control

We simply move along in time

Its within time we grow

We see it all around us

The time that used to be

The time that’s for tomorrow

But where then will we be

When we share it all together

Then we are as one

We lead our lives, participate

and leave nothing left undone

The Buddha on the mountain

The pharaoh on the throne

The Beggar on the doorstep

Looking for a home

So what of the times of yesterday

The feelings and the fun

Have they really gone away

And are they really done

Just what is it we’re part of

The answer’s all around

Feelings and emotions

A“force”not temporal bound.

The arguments of logic

Of right and wrong lose face

We cannot understand it

By citing time and place

The mystery of existence

Of being in a place

Of sharing things together

Not just a human race

The force of past emotions

That reach into our time

past friends and generations

that linger in the mind

There is no past or future

The present is the thing

That we should build our lives upon

To make our spirit sing

But what of our tomorrows

And friends we’ve yet to meet

The deadlines or the troubles

That we have yet to greet

We have the force within us

We’ve had it for all time

Before there was religion

Before there was a time

Written of by sages

of Greece or ancient Rome

Of contempletive existors

Of Jesuits or Kung

This force is our existence

Beyond the bounds of time

It binds us all together

Its magic is sublime

And when we look around our life

And whats inside our heart

It’s a testament to One

Of which we’re all a part

We’re all of one existence

One journey and one time

One singular magnificience

Beyond the grasp of time.  JM 2003