I have a memory of being at Corpus Christi school aged about 6 or 7 when one winter there was a heavy snowfall and we were kept at school until a parent came to collect us. Must have been a challenge as nobody had phones in those days. After a long wait Dad eventually turned up with Wellingtons for us all and we had great fun following in the huge foot prints he left in the deep snow as we trudged to the bus stop.

FOOT PRINTS

Childhood memory, snow falls heavy

School closed early while we wait

Dad turns up with our wellies

Leads us laughing through school gate

Snow’s so deep we skip our lessons

Dad says follow where I’ve been

Our wellies plunge in his impressions

Heaviest snow we’ve ever seen

Dad’s footprints are oh so deep!

For us, thigh high, in drifting snow

We giant-step so we may keep

Apace with Dad, and home we go

Steps through life leave impressions

Way-marked points of where we’ve been

Words I write attempt expression

Of the life I’ve lived and seen

I leave a trail for you to follow

For when I’m gone and you remain

It’s not meant to cause you sorrow

But might help to ease the pain

Life is finite that we know

Each must choose their route with care

The prints you leave will serve to show

The path you chose, the journey there

It doesn’t matter where you travel

It’s the journey that’s the key

Let your trail of love unravel

For those who follow; help them see

So leave your footprints loud and clear

Impressions of the life you’ve led

A gift for those that you hold dear

So they may follow in your tread

We followed Dad until we grew,

Each found a path we call our own;

But in his snow-deep steps we knew:

We needed Dad to guide us home

8th August 2025

A MOMENT IN TIME

A moment in time is all we have

Either this timeless instant

Or our life span measured

Against the cosmic clock

A brief flash of luminescence

As a spark of vitality flashes

Before the lights go out

Pause

In this instant of timelessness

Eternity can be glimpsed

Inhale

Hold that thought for a second

As you hold your breath

And perceive the universe within you

Exhale

Repeat

Live

Breathe

Love

Breathe

Die

Breathe?

Reincarnate?

CHILLING

Chilling in the garden

Day is soft with sun

Gentle breeze is wafting

Steroids on the run

Chemo does it work

Buying me some time

Chilling in the garden

Life can be sublime

Think not of the future

Relax and live the moment

Be at one with nature

A medicine most potent

Chilling the garden

Grateful for this day

Sitting in the sunshine

There’s nothing more to say

OUR THERESA

Baby Theresa, number five

Out of seven, she more than thrived

Born with sunshine in her soul

Look  on the bright side, that her goal

Four years between us, younger than me

Mom lost a  baby in between

The gap of time is richly filled 

I had Mom to myself when ‘they’ were at school

Memories of Theresa  coming home

Ambulance brought her, I’m no longer alone

Dad says to me ‘you’re no longer the baby’

I think to myself ‘that’s as maybe’

I soon get used to my new little sister

She’s a bundle of fun and a permanent fixture

Our lives intertwined at Corpus Christi

A simple life that’s part of our history

Two sweet girls and the  brothers five

Must have been a challenge for the feminine side

Tomboy Theresa was tough but fair

She’s got steel in her soul and lovely hair

We got on well in our own sweet way

Then grammar school took me away

But we came back together as the years unfolded

And became true friends, closely bonded

Trips to London to see big brother

He’s a long haired hippy  she’s keen to discover

The sights and sounds of London Town

Life is fun when she’s around

Fond of a tipple from time to time

With a partiality for barley wine

Never outrageous always mannered

Even when she’s getting hammered

Back in Brum she meets her Beau

The love of her life from Young and Co

Happily marries and the family grows

Builds a life with Ian and so it goes

Over the years our families paths

Are interwoven  in ways that last

Children - cousins - lives are richer

By the gift of love from my little sister

She’s my little Sis of that I’m proud

Life is special when she around

She’s a loving sister and a loyal friend

With a heart of gold to the very end

She’s big hearted kind and giving

Lives by the motto ‘life’s for living’

My world’s enriched by her ‘Joie de Vivre’

She’s one in a million, is our Theresa

BROTHERS

Brother Peter I think it’s time

To turn our friendship into rhyme

We’ve known each other for many years

Lots of laughter and sometimes tears

We didn’t ask to be born

The gift of life must not be scorned

Drummond Road was where we landed

Mom did her best to be even handed

You were third and I was fourth

Eighteen months between our births

We were close but not the same

Individuals in the family game

Looking back Mom did her best

For all the siblings in her nest

She gave to each just what was needed

But all too soon we’re superseded

By the next one in the chain

Of babies born time and again

Each one suckled and learns to walk

Even learning how to talk

Before the next one comes along

Independence makes us strong

Each must find find their own two feet

Sibling rivalry generates heat

Arguments squabbles Mom must manage

Life at home sometimes savage

No quarter asked and none was given

Each of us no doubt ego driven

Nineteen-fifties family life

The minimum wage from Dad for his wife

All we had to keep us going

Was faith and hope in a God all knowing

A simple life for simple souls

With school and religion to make us whole

Saying the rosary and going to church

Corpus Christi’s where we learned

To read and write and not much more

A bit of arithmetic to help keep score

Of the battles we won and sometimes lost

Adding up the pennies of life’s true cost

To worship God and take communion

Serve on the altar engage in union

Of mind and body heart and soul

The name of the game was to make us whole

And be as one with Catholic dogma

Obedient to the vision that’s gotcha

Don’t think for yourself, heaven’s your goal

Keep your hands clean, God needs your soul

Age eleven you see the light

Off to Shrigley and you’re out of sight

Mom said to me soft and low

‘I wish I’d never let him go!’

But off you went and the rest is history

To the rest of us it’s  a bit a mystery

But we assumed that God knows best

And you seemed ready for the test

We visited you twice a year

Goodbyes stained our cheeks with tears

You’re only home at summer time

When we  rode our bikes and life was fine

Eventually you see the light

The Salesian way is not your life

Your soul takes flight, you grab the wheel

And steer your life on a course that heals

And leads to growth and a loving wife

Four generations of family life

Exist because you took control

Grabbed life by the horns and found your soul

So dearest brother it’s been a pleasure

To know you all my life and treasure

The ups and downs and twists of fate

You’re more than a brother: you’re a really good mate!

11th August 2025