No Chicken

1st April
Now it begins- napowrimo.
Day 1


No Chicken

You sit,

Hunched over,

on the cold pavement,

a colourful sleeping bag

pulled up under your chin,

It seems futile against

this crisp March morning,

Strategically,

carefully,  you've chosen

your place,

next to the steps
that lead 

to the the doors

of the St Benedict's  Church.

You reach out to me,

 hands gnarled, greasy,

 gritted with the road,
Your eyes search me,

 hopefully,

find their way to a  corner

of my soul

"Are you hungry?
Can I get you a sandwich?"
"Yes, thanks..."
Is that an Albanian accent?
"What kind would you like?"

I leave  you that dignity,

won't presume to choose.

"Chicken please..."
"No chicken left, 

what about
 ham and cheese?"
"That's fine, Thank you"
polite, refined, 

what brought you here?

You take my hand.
I wish I could take you home.
I find myself sitting beside you,
we talk for a bit,
I leave

to go back  to my,

centrally heated house

Three Years Ago

4th Mar 2019

Three Years Ago


This time three year's ago ( wow! is it really that long)  my Mother had been gone for just four weeks and I was trying to get life back on some sort of even keel. I'd decided to see dad as regularly as I could which, for me, meant more than before. And, although Dad was struggling without mum, he'd got plans to see people and had contacted some of the grandchildren to that end.
I could see a future where we could have precious times together .
These were very hopeful weeks which were to be cut short by his sudden death, just seven weeks after Mum's.
I am sorry we didn't get time .
I am sorry I didn't get all the stories.
I am sorry I didn't know him as well as I might have done.
I am sorry I didn't realise what a good man he was until he was no longer here. And the older I get the more admiration I have for him.
Miss you always Dad .
I have a lot to thank you for.
The best thing of all being my faith, which you passed on to me , probably without even knowing.
I remember being quite small, you banging the table and saying, that what moved you to the Catholic Faith were those words in the Gospel when Jesus says to Peter:
 "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church". That was enough for you for many years. And I always think of it .
It's helped my own prayer many times over the years.
I pray that you and I will get to talk about this again when time, for me, is no more.