Thus I Wrote

It’s a new morning
It’s a new dawning
The sun has risen again
It’s a new season
It’s a new reason
To change and be born again

The magnolia blooms
The red robin resumes
Singing and building his nest
Mothers feed their young
Hope is the song sung
To Mother Earth’s latest guest

I had faith in spring
And hope for life it’d bring
I embrace the shoots of green
I feel the warm sun
As in the race I still run
Is this what “Truth beauty” means?

We’re sailing through the storm
Feeling lost and worn
The rain is lashing
The waves are crashing
It feels so far from home

Let’s fix our eyes on the skyline
Let’s look for that first sign
I know the sun will shine
Let me hold your hand
Cos I know, I understand
Those fears we can’t command

I won’t be lying to you
I don’t know anymore what’s true
I don’t always know what to do
But we are not alone
I see all the fears we’ve known
Withered by the love we’ve shown

Let’s fix our eyes on the skyline
Let’s look for that first sign
I know the sun will shine
Let me hold your hand
Cos I know, I understand
Those fears we can’t command

I walk down the pavement
I sit down inside
Hot coffee and warm croissant
I start swimming against the tide
I’m reaching out
Don’t know what’s next
I’m reaching out
Trying to connect

It’s a new day
And the sun is streaming hot
I remember the stars said last night
“Nobody knows the plot”
I was raised on a promise
It was whispered in the wind
It said “Give all you’ve got
And nobody’ll say you’ve sinned”
I’m reaching out
We’re all we got left
I’m reaching out
Trying to connect

Dancing together, with new steps we learned
We move together, that’s another corner turned
Saw my team lose again, unanswered questions, confidence lost
We all compete, new questions answered, new frontiers crossed
We’re holding it together
Trying to connect
We’re reaching out
Trying to connect

Seen the cross in the graveyard
Saying this dreaming now must end
It’s time to end the oppression
Into which they’ve been condemned
I travelled to Kilmainham
Where martyrs died forlorn
All changed, changed utterly
A terrible beauty was born

Now the wind it shakes the barley
I saw them at end of the day
They were drinking in dark, smoke-filled pubs
They were arguing and having their say
But brother then shot brother
And families were wrenched and torn
All changed, changed utterly
A terrible beauty was born

I heard the skylark singing
As smoke rose from the incense
And the clouds above the barren church
Were his only audience
I saw that young nation
Was still in old monochrome
But the world was now in colour
Telling many to leave home

In exile I watched Riverdance
They played rugby with style
In the air they built up confidence
On the earth new country miles
On the edge of a European Union
They were the Celtic Tiger grown
All changed, changed utterly
From that terrible beauty born

No longer saints, no longer scholars
But I still see Celtic ghosts somehow
When the crash came, they fell so hard
They recover, as others allow
In this new world, they’re now free
But with chains, of a different form
United Nations, changed utterly
From a terrible beauty born

Will nothing become me more in my life
Than my leaving it?
Will I face my end with graceful acceptance
Or will I end up grieving it?

Some say “It’s better to be a live dog,
Than to be a dead lion”
We must not be burdened by the past
’Cos today is all we can rely on

Men built great monuments to God
And they discovered with good reason
But God was discovered to be dead
He bound us together for a season

Now Hawking worries about AI
“It could end the human race”
What value will we then offer each other
In this crowded Godless place?

See how I live mostly half out of life
I impotently observe and plan
Sometimes I observe women full of life
And I offer them my dwindling uses, as their man

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

Whoa now lady this is just our first date
Let’s introduce ourselves, now can you please wait?
You know my name and you know I have some baggage
I don’t carry it in a bag, I use this nice carriage

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

Yes, I’ve been married a few times before
That’s twice (if you insist on keeping the score)
And yes I have kids and yes they’re all grown up
And yes I tell Dad jokes, though they try make me stop

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

Well, I’m getting to it now, shall we order a drink?
I need time to catch my breath and have a think
I came on this date with such anticipation
But now this feels like a Police interrogation!

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

(Well I’ve learned that you do like your wine
And you do like your food as well as some of mine
But let me keep those things to myself
My black eye won’t look too good, on the shelf)

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

In Life I must have, something to give
And having something to share, is my way to live
In Love we’re all different, one size doesn’t fit all
And each couple will make, their own different call

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

My love should be first, before friends, work or sport
I should always be loyal, and provide fun and support
I shouldn’t draw lines, where my love can but lose
And I know my demons and fears are mine to defuse

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

Now coffee is over and what about you?
Tell me about you and what do you want to do?
I’ve answered all your questions all down the line
Now shall we move onto a few of mine?

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

Oh shame, our time is over and now what’s next?
I’m not great at sharing on Facebook or text
Oh… you just … want to wait and see
Well… I guess …that’s just fine with me

What have you learned?, what have you learned?
What have you learned?, what have you learned?

It’s the deep midwinter
I’m walking in the snow
In the quiet, I hear the birds
I like their song as I go.
The pale sun tries
To shine on me, here below
I’ve given up asking
Cos I just don’t know

I’m going to paint my house
In all the bright colours I find
I’m ready to have faith in hope
And leave my past behind

I ran in the wind
I could see a faint glow
My hair was wet
I ran as fast as I could go
I’ve knelt in the desert
As many did before
But I’ve given up asking
Cos I just don’t know

I’m going to paint my house
In all the bright colours I find
I’m ready to have faith in hope
And leave my past behind

The sea called to me
It whispered for me to go
I was on the waves
And against the tide I did row
Then I let the oars float
Now I’m going with the flow
And I’ve given up asking
Cos I just don’t know

I’m going to paint my house
In all the bright colours I find
I’m ready to have faith in hope
And leave my past behind

It’s just a fairytale
But you preach “It’s right”
It’s just a fairytale
But you insist “It’s right”
I think on the whole
It’s about power and control
It’s your tool for evil rule and “It’s not right”

We’ve learned from many teachers
Who believed what’s right
And they learned from many teachers
Who believed what’s right
Like them we took the best
And we discarded the rest
Because we need a modern view of what’s right

There are many things still wrong
On the road to what’s right
There are many things still wrong
On the road to what’s right
But as a democratic collective
We can be much more effective
To serve and to do what’s right

If there is no God,
We’ve no one to blame,
For when the rains came;
And if there is no God,
We’ve no one to blame,
For when the storms came;

We predict the weather,
Create cities for shelter,
We share & work together
So tomorrow is better;
We find a natural solution,
The incremental execution,
Of a billion year evolution,
For our miracle resolution.

We make our human condition,
With democratic submission,
We accept subtraction and addition,
Without prayer or contrition,
We believe in what we agree,
And accept what we must be,
Without the shouting and wails,
Of medieval fairy tales.

I was falling in an empty forest
I was one hand clapping
You came needing to my door
And I awoke to your gentle tapping

Hold someone’s hand and make someone smile
Forget where you are going, if only for a while
Find your purpose, And nurture your gifts
To find your place to serve and exist

Know that your failures are the salt of life
They exist between try and achieve
They shine and polish your gifts
And your direction to believe

Inspired by Victoria Koenig’s poem Fog…northernthoughts