Eulogy

Posted on August 1, 2021 by ashyvicar

some who wear
cassock and collar
dislike that point in time
when
things get taken
off the leash
and the poetry of a life
is let loose

wonderful humour
naughty but nice
cheeky but never malicious
loved a game of bingo
liked to shop
she will be missed

is it a hatred of
sentimentality?

is it an assertion
in rhyming verse
that nan tends
rose gardens up above
or the irritation
that many a popular song
speaks to the human condition
better than countless hymns?

is it this
that evokes such
condescension?

yet in those
inadequate moments
when raw emotion
is worn on the sleeve
and language struggles to achieve
all that is wanted of it
lives often ignored
are given a moment
a twinkling under stars
and with it
recognition
that in bingo halls
and retail parks
any god
should be pleased to dwell

A Poetry Reading…..

Video

Bollihope – Spoken Word

Snowflakes

Posted on February 10, 2021 by ashyvicar

under the microscope
are you a miracle of beauty?

will distinctive patterns
make impressions on my soul?

captured by camera
would I be able to draw you?

or would that picture
just simply melt away?

is your design for life
one to be repeated?

does it change for better
any worlds lived in today?

just like snowflakes
all human life is transitory

one by one
lives simply fade away

uniqueness lost
never replicated

the moment gone
forever trying to grasp it

seeking divinity
in the fragility
of humanity

Sunderland Bridge

Posted on November 14, 2020 by ashyvicar

the detritus of human waste
litters the bins

– the river of life goes on –
remark the stones
but closer inspection
reveals birthday card cliché

all of life has crossed this bridge
long before this biro’s invention
merry
trudging
stagnant
accidentally drowned
complex in its resistance
to neat summary

a new structure now sits
down stream
all beam steeled
with modern slants
offering life at faster pace
no time to stop and contemplate

this changing template of autumn leaves
deviation towers
mapping power’s obdurate course
fast flowing
no giving way
and emphatically on track
for environmental catastrophe

copyright a shyvicar November 2020

Nick Cave

Posted on April 30, 2020 by ashyvicar

to be
minimalist
is best

no words
I write
could capture

a desolation
that brings consolation
in a truly Ignatian sense

but if I had to
refer to
just one lyric

on pain of death

it would be
forevermore
“I don’t believe in an interventionist God”

my heart feels

strangely warmed
within
each and every time

Robert Runcie

Posted on April 16, 2020 by ashyvicar

I played guitar
in a band that bore his name
but did not recognise him
when he spoke to me
through a car window

like a blues brothers’ rawhide
we replayed our repertoire
joined each time by Giles
for his song of entertainment
that a man named Paul inspired

I felt embarrassed
a make-shift car park attendant
the special college day
who blank-faced the arriving
VIP

that was my experience
of Robert Runcie
tank commander and archbishop
so much taller
in real life

did I channel that into the band?
did my rhythm guitar
signal loss of face?
awkwardness came
naturally.

I allude to it sporadically
the band that is
for effect
“The Rob Runcie Experience?!!?” Really!??!
my momentary encounter I try to forget

The Screaming Melons

Posted on April 10, 2020 by ashyvicar

you could say
I was a die-hard fan

at both of their gigs
they banged out the blues
in a feelgood style

I loved them for their name
dreamed of being a part
jealous of their fashion
I bought a blues harp

I could not make it wail
I could not make it moan
like Pete
like Sonny Boy

in my mouth
all tuneless and useless
all teeth and gums

so I salute
those Screaming Melons
the joy their blues bought
in all too few moments

and yes
in flights of fancy
still dream
of making harmonicas
talk

my gig going years

Posted on April 8, 2020 by ashyvicar

I will list them
the bands that I’ve seen
as I nursed a pint
for as long as I could
in venues
where in spite of the crowds
I was always on my own

I did my best to blend in
sought to give
an impression
that
I was waiting for others
who
stuck in queues at the bar
couldn’t get back
or had lost me in the dark

were you fooled?
were you there?
in Gloucester,
Cheltenham
Sheffield
Leicester
I will be specific

or did the drink
the chewing of the fat
let me go undetected
like the thief Garrett?
as I yearned to hear Harvey
sing about her dress
lingering behind you
a respectful distance.

The Holy Grail

Posted on December 22, 2019 by ashyvicar

the holy grail
that cup of old
is this it before us now?
Who dares to touch?
Who dares to hold?
Who dares the story to retell?
of how red wine
fresh full-bodied wine
was passed
hand to mouth
mouth to hand
as a sign of a hope
that had only ever been dreamed of

a hope battered by the storms of time
a hope shattered by ages long gone
and yet still hanging there
waiting to be grasped
waiting to be held
close to the heart

Valentines

Posted on November 4, 2019 by ashyvicar

i once sent you a valentine
the kind only shy boys send
where even anonymous
reveals too much
and
– I love you –
is never penned

i could have slipped it
under your door
furtively placed it
in a bag
dropped it
by a pigeon-hole
but I took the bus to Gloucester

the trip
I don’t remember now
or how I found the courage
to let the card
slip
from my hand
into the darkness
of unknown consequences

valentines night
together –

with a band of SCA volunteers
walking wintry February lanes
torchlight
streetlight
starlight
breath hanging in chilly air
visiting those marginalised
just for their learning disabilities –

I felt you knew
sensed it in the atmosphere
conceivably my face
just cried out
Gloucester!

you said
– did you send any cards? –
i said
looking at traces
i couldn’t read
– no –

You smiled
lightly brushed my back
with mitten hands
carrying on with lives
never to be knit

ashyvicar

People, places, things……. in poetry

Category Archives: poetry