The Word on Eyes

THE WORD ON EYES

The wise man's eyes are in his head
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

© Gerald England

Composed: Oldham, 6th April 1977

Publications

1977 EYES (Huddersfield, Sight Saving Association)
1992 The Third Half (UK)
1993 Unicorn (UK)

Calvary

CALVARY

And who owned the nail ?
Who the hammer ?
Who the hand that hammered ?
Whose symbol is the hammer ?

Hammer, hammer nail the hand
Nailed hands cannot comfort
Nailed hands cannot heal
Nailed hands can't forgive

Was it my nail and your hammer ?
Or mine the hammer yours the nail ?
Who will take the hammer from us ?
Only the hand that we have nailed

Extract the nail with the claw of the hammer
And let the hand that was nailed
rise up and lift the hammer from us
Free us from the hammer's hold

© Gerald England

Composed: Oldham, 1st February 1976

Publications

1977 EYES (Huddersfield, Sight Saving Association)
1977 International Biographical Centre Magazine (UK)
1980 THE RAINBOW AND OTHER POEMS (Heckmondwyke, Fighting Cock Press)

Homage to Ruth

HOMAGE TO RUTH

On the seventeenth you came
from your mother's womb
sixty-plus years and a day
after the grandmother
whose name you bear
And on the seventeenth next
you were lowered into the tomb
freshly dug for you and
for your family that follow

The Lord gave you to us
and for three heavy weeks
you were our joy, our hope,
and our future

Your little life fought hard
You showed your will
When the nurses fed you through your nose
disregarding pain your tiny hands
yanked out the plastic tube
your nose upturned in contented peace

Late on the twelfth your heart gave out

We thank God for those three weeks
We praise him in our grief
He wipes away our fears
and dries our requiescent tears
We have learnt what it is to grieve
We have passed through the severity
of our sufferings

and we are finding that incomprehensible peace
which always will be yours

© Gerald England

Composed: Oldham, 25th October 1975

Publications

1977 EYES (Huddersfield, Sight Saving Association)
1981 DADDYCATION (Ashton under Lyne, New Hope International)