© Gerald England
My friend came with a problem
I did not know what to say
I feared the consequence of my words
I stayed a while silent
I did not speak to my friend
My heart spoke with the Lord
The Spirit interceded and
gave me a question to ask
My friend did not answer me the question
But the Lord answered his problem
Skin was slit like the opening of an envelope© GERALD ENGLAND
A head with hair was revealed
Skilful hands worked with precision
Blood and water gushed, drenching sheets
And emerged a baby, alive and whole,
covered all over all green The cord cut
my baby son was carried to a table
Several seconds of intensive wait then
all in the theatre thrilled to the cry
of the earth's latest inhabitant
The pedeatrician pronounced him a fine seven-pounder
while the doctor finished his work and sewed the scar
They were wrong who feared I might faint
I was far too busy being overjoyed
at this wonder of creation to feel other
than the very best I have ever felt
A father proud of his son and his wife
praising his own maker and the doctors and nurses
who all played their part to produce
one more miracle
I took my wife to a Chinese restaurant to eat;© Gerald England
egg fou yung, sweet and sour, she declined;
said she fancied a nice fat piece of meat
like gammon ham with a juicy rind
A woman always has the right to change her mind
so I got her fish and chips and peas
and then we felt we'd truly dined
Why is a woman so difficult to please ?
Yesterday my wife complained about her feet,
how climbing stairs was such a bind
and how she couldn't stand the heat,
that this year's weather had not been kind
and how for a bit of sun she pined
I went and booked a holiday in Greece
but now she hasn't time I find
Why is a woman so difficult to please ?
Once my wife for a bit of a treat
went to the house of a man who was blind
to clean and make it tidy and neat
but when he stood up and slapped her behind
then found herself in his arms entwined
she said, "Excuse me, I want to sneeze!"
and left with her cheque still unsigned
Why is a woman so difficult to please ?
ENVOI
Prince, when I come home from the daily grind
if I bring her milk she asks for cheese
It's no wonder my face is wrinkled and lined
Why are women so difficult to please ?
My faith was like a wall© Gerald England
built of sound and solid brick
but in my sin I failed
to mix a mortar strong and true
so that it crumbled in the wind
and dissolved in the rain
and my wall fell down
in the storm
My second wall was built on sand
When the storm came
the ground began to swell
and solid to liquid turned
The bricks sank in the mire;
the whole construction began to sway;
the foundations collapsed
and, unsupported, the wall fell
My third wall was built
upon the word of the Lord,
fashioned with bricks baked
in the fire of truth,
fastened with the mortar of love;
a strong wall to withstand
the buffeting of any storm
or attacks of fiery darts
Who are you?© Gerald England
Why did you leave a wreath
on our baby's grave?
You are not anyone we know
Did you have so many wreaths
that you spared one for a quiet grave?
or had you a baby that died
and have no grave of your own to visit
so chose ours?
Whoever you are
whatever your reason
we thank you for your kindness
Share not our sorrow
but share our joy
knowing that our baby
is not in barren soil
but in a many-mansioned place
where we through grace may follow on
He saw the sand - turned© GERALD ENGLAND
looked at me for assurance
I nodded - following with my two feet
Encouraged he bounded off
Straightway - a fluttering of wings
and a squawking of beaks
from seagulls chased
but dogs can't fly
Then he found the sea
He ran at it
but a wave barked back at him
He retreated
Cautious steps forward
another leaping return
then temper flared
and like a New-Year-Ice-Breaker
he dived over the waves
landed splashfull in a skinsoak of sandsaltsea
I too attempted retreat
from watershedding shakes
As I sat watching the tide retreat
and estuary mist give way
to green sights of opposite land
he groomed himself almost dry
We resumed contact and left
Beneath the row of nettles© GERALD ENGLAND
the dock leaves grew
and ivy up a tree
Out at sea the destroyer plied
its silent way while the raucous sounds
of toucans, macaws and cockatoos
filled the tropical aviary
One white-cheeked touraco, with shining
scarlet eyelashes hung firmly
to a twig for his long-lost nest
Two little guinea-pigs shared their home
with the cockatiels
A white peahen looked uninterestedly on
at two peacocks, tails afanned
and bottoms shaking a furious courtship
The Alexandrine parakeet took
the tomato and held it in its claw to eat
Neither we nor they cared for the rain
The mist destroyed any sight out at sea
and the trees dripped
The wise man's eyes are in his head© Gerald England
but the fool walks in darkness;
his eyes are in the ends of the earth
They that tarry long at the wine;
they that go to see mixed wine;
they have redness of eyes
Better is the sight of the eyes
than the wandering of desire,
which is vanity and vexation of spirit
The eyes of the lofty shall be humbled
The rebellious have eyes and see not
The eyes of the pure in heart
shall see God
The eyes of the blind shall be opened
The eyes of the Lord are in every place
beholding the evil and the good
The eyes of all wait upon Him
and he gives them their meat in due season
At Nazareth© Gerald England
the eyes of all those
that were in the synagogue
were fastened on him
who was sent for the recovering
of sight to the blind
In former days
we groped for the wall
like the blind as if
we had no eyes, stumbling
at noonday as in the night -
a foolish, rebellious people
which have eyes and see not
Now like the disciples
who walked the road to Emmaeus
our eyes are opened
and we know Him
We say, with Simeon,
"Mine eyes have seen thy salvation"
