The Trees

Are we a Tree?
that grows and grows
four score years or more
save some sudden storm

Your feedback on Nightlove

I am impressed, this is a beautiful piece, you definitely have a way with words, and your princess of night is enchanting, thank you! STEVE

particularly loved your poem 'Nightlove' on your website -- that was excellent. Keep up the great work!  Jane

Nightlove

Curtain leaking light cross the valley 

Owl hooting emptiness

Night a sleeping princess

How she lies over the land

Her hills her folds, a faint heart beat.

A dog barks, no child, no sound stirs

Night slips the cool skin of her valleys

A heart of roses entwined in the tree line,

Cool calms the night

A  faint wind, her breath

A vapor trail faded long in her nightness

I let the garden grow

As I am weary

And on every leaf

On every blade of grass

On every tree silhouette

She slumbers

My princess

Mervyn Cooke 

Copyright © O Derry Boy August 2011

March's Poem

On the long lonely shores of Ica

Lie I on my back and stare at the sky

Follow the flight of the cormorants as they snake

Single file on their languid journey northwards

Stoned straight on this far-flung shore

I feel too giddy to go gawp the universe

I Ica Peru parallel lives

Me the coast the magnetic migration of wildlife

Stare into space and zoomup the universe

Where am I but a dot in your eye

Spirituality group meeting

We are a group from St Birinus and St John’s church who enjoy meeting to have  a chat about spiritual  and faith issues in the Wendover Arms pub every other Wednesday. If anyone would like to join us in our chats, please feel free to come along. Our next meetings are on Wed 29^th Feb and Weds 14^th  March, both at 7.45 . For further info please contact office@banjos.org.uk

Each month they have a message for you.  
This month it is Ecclesiastes 3 v1-8 - you can listen here.===>(podcasts)


A Time for Everything
1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
3 A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4 A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7 A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8 A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Your feedback

And I dreamt,

" As with your previous poems, this really conveys strong images of childhood and of the natural world. I love the way your poems seem to draw the reader in straight away – the imagery you use is very powerful and I could really imagine being there. I particularly liked the description of the sheep, the ‘keepers of the mountain’ - their lively characters contrasting well with the harsh image of the dead crows in the next.


The description of the blue bottle in the last verse, desperate to escape, is great and emphasises the peace and stillness of the room really well. I really like the way your writing conveys meaning so effectively and conjures up such strong imagery! "

Happy New Year to all

岁月被一页一页地撕去

Time passes by, page by page torn away

新年的脚步悄悄来临...

New Year’s footsteps softly tread
大街上喜庆的七彩灯

The main street draped in festive, multi coloured lanterns
点缀着节日美好氛围...

Decorating this beautiful festive air
空中飞舞的祝福

Blessings dance in the breeze
把新年的大门叩响...

The New Year Door knocks
祝你：
元旦快乐！

Wishing you a Happy New Year!

我的朋友写的  笑容皇后– 广东，深圳

From a friend Li Jing in Shenzhen, GuangDong, China

翻译的莫文 translated by Mervyn