THE PROMISE

Miraculous birth
So unexpected
So unbelieveable
Yet always promised
To us a son
A firstborn
And only one
Loved by his father
And we laughed together
At the thought
That the child I held
Would carry a blessing
An everlasting covenant
For all nations
But every promise has a plan
Not always what we wish
And childhood becomes
A distant memory
Too soon
He was gone
Obedience called
And he
Followed his father
The supreme sacrifice
A lamb offering
Carrying the wood
On his own back
Under the blessing
Willing to be
The fulfillment
Of the promise
On the third day
God answered
The substitution
Was complete
And Abraham's son
Went home again
To be with
His father

PEACE

Peace
What is it ?
When men agree to disagree
To stop the fight
Burying the hatchet
And an Armalite

Peace
What is it ?
To walk the streets without constraint
But not without worry
To leave all our suspicions
To a judge and jury

Peace
What is it ?
When brothers decide to forgive
But not forget
When neighbours look but never speak
Across the fence

Peace
What is it ?
A set of rules and boundaries
That let us live
Or a changing of the heart


Which Jesus gives

THE REAL THING

An hour with my least favourite auntie
A meal in the worst restaurant
A holiday with those I avoid
Teaching a class of delinquents
Making a real bad investment
Finding myself in the red
Paying a dental repair bill
Losing my credit cards
Having a serious illness
Confined to a hospital bed
Losing a real close relation
Burying a very good friend
Ditched by the girl I had dreamed of
And discover her dating my mate
Winning a million pound jackpot
And waking up in a cold sweat
Dancing aboard the Titanic
Or trapped by a large forest fire
Caught in the world's biggest earthquake
Or slipping from off the Sears Tower
Life in Viet Nam in the Sixties
A soldier who fought at the Somme
An innocent victim in Ulster
A Jew in a German war camp
A shark fin emerging beside me
A snake at the foot of my sheets
A black widow under my pillow
A lion I'd rather not meet
Just think of your very worst problem
All these could be hell on earth
But no matter what happens , remember

The real thing's a million times worse

STREET COLLECTORS

Standing on the corner of town
Shaking their money boxes up and down
Trying to catch the slightest glance
And an opportunity to pounce
To give a coloured sticker treat
Or pin a little flag motif
They always know my favourite store
And take up residence beside the door
To give me that disdainful stare
When I pretend that they're not there
Or when I say I have no money
They seem to think it rather funny
That I should reach a shopping zone
And leave my finance all at home
One sticker is a saving grace
When several collecting groups invade
I greet each with a knowing smile
And hand in pocket,pass on by
So some advice,you might take note
Keep that old sticker on your coat
And then in town you'll fear no more

That dreaded figure at your store

GRAVEYARDS

Graveyards are interesting places
Written in stone
Are the names of those
Who didn't die in
Chronological order
Some tragic
Some natural
All planned
At exactly the right moment
A vivid picture
Of incomplete family trees
To be added to
Against our will
And a backdrop of sackcloth
And fresh smelling flowers
Buried deep in the ground
Are a million thoughts and unfulfilled dreams
That no one will ever know

Until the time is right

ASPIRATIONS

Two inches taller
Two sizes smaller
Brown eyes , not blue
And sallow skin too
Hair on my head
And not on my bed
A voice so sweet
And Pele's feet
An artist's hand
And a prince's land
A single mood
A desire to be good
Einstein's brain
The Beatles' fame
A private jet
Not a single debt

I may wish and want
But what I need
He has supplied
And more indeed
And if I was some other man
I couldn't doThe job he's planned

HOME

Home is a two storey terrace
A mansion on an estate
A township in Soweto
A palace in Kuwait
A clearing in the Amazon jungle
A shanty in Hong Kong
A tent on a reservation
A high rise in New York
A space in cardboard city
A yacht in the south of France
A villa in Lanzarote
A rectory or a manse
A mud hut in the Andes
A barge in Amsterdam
An Australian outback sheep ranch
A converted bus or van
Home is what you make it
With friends or all alone
The places we just visit
Are someone else's home
Home is not for ever
Another passing stage
A better home is waiting

On a more eternal plane