The love in her sweet voice….

Sharp sun stings your eyes as you wake,

The biting wind is making you shake.

Fumbling through pockets of worn out rags,

Frantically searching for whiskey and fags.

Hidden within a threadbare sack,

You find a bottle and crumpled pack.

But  to your horror, the bottle is dry,

In sheer desperation you start to cry.

With fingers, skinny, stiff, still shaking,

A cigarette you try making.

Finally inhaling it long and deep,

Wishing you could return to sleep.

Spurred by smoke your hazy brain,

Remembers a bottle down by a drain.

You were inspired, to make a stash,

For days like this, when you have no cash.

Lips to the bottle, tasting the bliss,

A reminder, perhaps, of an angels kiss.

Calmer now, the craving eases,

But hunger still torments and teases.

Setting you off on your daily beat,

Laughing, loudly stamping your feet.

Defying the cold, the wind won’t defeat,

You or your search for something to eat.

Its raining, as you reach the corner shop,

Coughing and wheezing you have to stop.

Anyway its time for another drink,

To focus the mind and help you to think.

How you will get a bite,

To ease the pangs you had all night.

Then you wonder are you dreaming,

As you smell coffee hot and steaming.

Shaking her head as she looks at you,

Then gives you portion of hot food too.

Are the tears in her eyes, starting to well,  

Stinging rain makes it hard to tell.

She whispers, “you could change , you have a choice“,            

Something familiar about her words, her voice.

You know you know her, but from where?

And before you can ask she’s no longer there.

By the crowd she has been swallowed,

So you couldn’t catch her if you followed.

Eating in a doorway to avoid the rain,

Her voice is haunting you again.

On your breakfast you nearly choke,

Because her voice and the words she spoke,

Bring back the years of love you shared,

And you realise now that she still cared.

Seeing your reflection in a window pane,

It is obvious now how totally insane,

That behaviour was driving you apart,

And causing so much pain in her heart.

With tears in her eyes the time came to part,

Yet she was willing to try a fresh start.

She said “you can change, you have a choice“,

With soft tender love in her sweet voice.

But you couldn’t see all you would lose,

As you opted instead for a life on the booze.

Breaking her heart that cold winters day,

As she whispered her love you just staggered away.

Desperate, to numb your guilt and pain,

With whiskey and fags you lie soaked in rain.

Wishing you could change, and make the choice,

To have back that love in her sweet voice.

  Joe Cluxton Dec. 2006                            

In Celebration of Kuan Yin.

Kuan yin, in adoration, I bow at you feet,

Absorbing your mercy, your compassion, so soft, so sweet,

As it gently flows from your vase of green,

Filling my soul with a love so serene.

Kuan Yin , in admiration, I gaze at the love and light,

Which radiates from your heart so warm and so bright,

In response to the cries of all people in need,

And to whom you will never cease to pay heed.

Kuan Yin, in contemplation of, the Jewel within the Lotus flower,

I see the beauty of your love and power,

You are the perfect inspiration,

For my Loving-Kindness meditation.

Kuan Yin, in celebration, of this, your special day,

With candles burning to light my way,

I embrace all the love and the virtues you show,

As I immerse my soul in your soft healing glow.

Kuan Yin ,in appreciation of all the love you give,

I chose you as the model for my life to live,

To hear the call, the painful cries,

Of the troubled souls with tears in their eyes.

Joe Cluxton Feb.2005

Grá agus Solas

Kuan Yin: hearer of cries, Goddess of mercy and compassion

CHRISTIAN BROTHER?

CHRISTIAN BROTHER?

Christian Brother, does that name mean what it should?

Christ would never, rob me of my childhood.

How could you, a Brother of Christ,

Steal the innocence of a child.

Christ would never even crush a flower,

And leave it feeling so defiled.

But you, entrusted to shaping my future years ahead.

Abused your position and destroyed it all instead.

Teacher? Carer? Someone, that I thought I could have trusted.                                 

You left me feeling ,sickened, saddened and disgusted.

You hurt me and worse still you hurt my Mam and Dad.

And in so doing became the worst nightmare I ever had

In your eyes I sensed something dark and wild.

But you kept smiling,

As if to try and reassure this very frightened child.

How did it feel abusing your own power

And destroying what little power I had.

That must have made your brother Christ, so very, very sad.

You were a sad sick contradiction for all the world to see

A Brother in name, but no Christian the day your sickness tainted me.

If you had asked your brother Christ ,

He would have healed the error of your way.

So, why did you turn your back on him and run away?

He has healed me of my past, my hurt, my pain.

And on your behalf,

My forgiveness for you he did also gain.

You almost destroyed me by the error of your way.

But I am growing now in love and understanding,

A little every day.

Although it saddens me to think,

That you may still run and hide.

I hope someday, in Christ your Brother,

Your soul, you will confide.

Joe Cluxton