Hello
I have just started a You-Tube channel called ‘Slow in the City’, which is me reciting some of these blog entries.
If you are interested here’s my first offering:
Strengthened in Life (version two)
Breathe-out
and
stand
the Weh
is at hand
Breathe-in
rejoice
let
Yah guide
the voice
for when
joy fills
the lungs
when
breath-full-ness
comes
anxieties fall
as
Love Be-stills all.
On the pure:
meditate
For the just:
Supplicate
Praise both:
Noble and True
Give thanks for:
Virtue
With the Loveless:
Consort
and with all good report
‘Rejoice’
I say twice
and Be strengthened in
Life.
After Philippians V4: 4-13
City sirens and seagull cries
‘Oh,
who gives me the wings like the dove when I would fly away and be at rest?’ (Meister Eckhart, Discourse on Eternal Birth)
‘I shall lead my friend into the wilderness and shall speak to her heart. I will return her vineyards and transform the Valley of Trouble into a gateway of hope.’ (Hosea 2 14 & 15)
and so:
Breathe deep I do, this dove grey breeze
ingest the wail and warp and weave
of city sirens and seagull cries
and hurt filled sweat in salt sore eyes.
And pray I do, that You may quell this thirsting woe
this cling to things I think I know
this bursting urge that grips the reins
that tourniquets Your blood in veins
fat furred and hard from my control
of withering heart, and yet and yet
this distanced soul cannot forget
to Breathe out and inwardly once again
trust Love to light the twisted turns through
joy and rage and hope and pain.
‘When we set our intention on love and humility, then, by the power of mercy and grace, we are cleansed and made whole.’ (Julian of Norwich, Showings, chapter 40)
Finding Joy in the City
Joy hides away from those that pace in workaholic mist
and hangs upon the everyday sweet moments as a gift.
She scents the pine trees after rain, ignites the northern star
and knows if hearts can beat the same then She can travel far.
Joy walks soft sand beneath Her feet across the city centre,
She offers love to littered street and sunshine to November.
Joy stands for someone on the bus, confirms they are worthwhile
by promising the lightest touch exhaled within a smile.
Joy is the breath in crinkled leaves, browning in the light
She lets the trawl of seagull breeze catch tears within mid flight.
Joy creates the daydream nest, where life and soul pretends
a childish state with lemon zest and imaginary friends.
Joy steams the lilacs in my bath, oils incense on my back
She mixes warmth from open hearth with ice cubed whiskey mac
then with fresh sheets upon my bed She takes me down to lie
and drifts my tired and aching head on waves of ‘Sailing By’.
city slowness 