Winter
The trees are like skeletons now
The late winds created the row.
Leaves skidded, along the ground
And shivered in places, around corners
They will have to be cleared.
Soon buds will appear
Announce the start of the year
The miracle of nature,
Defying, ‘Global Warming’
Pollution, Chemicals, Fear
Dangers ever near.
By Carmel McCarthy

An Artist’s Prayer
Universe, and all that lies beyond,
Great web of life,
Support me with your threads of light,
Red, orange, yellow,
Green, blue, indigo, violet,
Rainbow without end,
Help me while I explore the gift of creativity.
Encourage me with your messages,
Found in every tree, stone, blade of grass,
Flower, fellow human and animal,
Nurturing earth, sun, moon, other planets and stars,
Reach through to my inner being.
I have opened the channels
To the healing power of the artist within,
She who was born along with me
Who died a thousand deaths
And still asked for a chance to be heard.
Hold me in the wisdom of your heart
And gather in every small treasure,
Each a perfect creation in itself,
Precious seeds to be protected
By the nourishing darkness,
In preparation for a new beginning
Trusting, loving and being loved,
In the great unfolding of life.
By Ali Fisher

Christmas Starts
Christmas starts with carols
Ringing sweetly through the night.
With happy family gatherings
Each face a lovely sight.
It starts with lists of dear ones
We reach out to touch once more
With the faithfulness of love renewed
And stronger than before.
It starts with warmth and kindness
In our pleasant preparations
With wreaths and candles beckoning
Like silent invitations.
Christmas is the cherished time
Because its magic starts
In all the warmth and tenderness
Stored up in loving hearts.
By Ann-Marie

Finding God
A friend of mine
Has recently
Found God.
Funny,
I didn’t even know
He was lost!
Was there a reward?
If there was,
My friend has kept it
For himself.
I bet there was
Otherwise
Why did he not
Ask me for help?
I would have been out
Combing the hills too
And for nothing!
I mean,
What sort of Christian
Does he think I am!

Either way
It’s good to know,
That God’s turned up
Safe and sound.
By Seán MacGearailt

Ringsend Park
They say they’re unhappy with Ringsend Park
Green land on the edge of the sea,
Where once had dabbled the wild mudlark
While the gulls overheard soared free.
Where once was a cess-pool of black mucky sand
With ugly discards on its fringe,
A dog-bank unsightly on Merrion Strand
Whose odour would make a gull cringe.
A place where the cockle lake turned on its heel
And scurried straight back to the tide,
Where seaweed exposed in the noon-day sun
Polluted the air as it died.
There man couldn’t venture and keep a whole foot
There gulls couldn’t swim and stay white,
‘Twas a foul sort of quagmire, the colour of soot
Avoided by day and by night.
Then they took all the garbage of Dublin’s big town
And dumped it on top of the muck,
And kept up the dumping while taping it down
‘Til dirt unto dirt it got stuck.
Then over the top they spread fine Irish clay
And seeded their efforts with grass,
‘Til the green breath of freshness you see there to-day
Gave Ringsend a new touch of class.
So if you feel unhappy with old Ringsend Park
Green spot on the edge of the sea,
Where in the clear air, above soars the lark,
Think of what, on that spot, used to be.
By Seán MacBrádaigh

Ode to ‘Bang Bang’
Oh we still love you ‘Bang Bang’
We miss you so a stór
Your likes oul Dublin City
Will never see no more.

With six gun disguised
As a latch door key
He kept law and order
In Baile Ath Cliath.

Aye, ‘twas many a redskin
He saw bit the dust
And many’s the baddie
Did flee in disgust.

He cleaned up the Mill
To head for the Bond
The rustlers soon scurried
In haste to abscond.

Then he rode shotgun
For the oul CIÉ
The passengers safety
Being his only fee.

True the West had the James boys
And the old Dalton gang
But they’d never compete
With our darlin’ ‘Bang Bang’
By Noel Martin

Christmas – Lovingly
A gift of love at Christmas
What could be a better way
To celebrate the season
In the world we know today.
For many hearts are lonely
Many need a helping hand
And many still are waiting
For that one who’ll understand.
And each of us, no matter
What our circumstances may be
Has something deep within to give
At Christmas lovingly.
By Ann-Marie

A Seaman’s Prayer
Our lives are passed away from every land
In waters in the hollows of thy hand.
Our ways are found by sun, moon and stars
But ever in thy hands our fortunes are
The dangers hem us in of every kind
The seas that shatter and the fog that blind
The wind that heaps the sea rock shore
Collision and fire, the dangers of the sea
O lord if that may not be
Grant us the manhood fitting to the sea.
School-master in City Quay, Mr Duffercy,
remembered by John Byrne

A Timeless Christmas Message
Christ came to us at Christmastime
To show us perfect love,
To ask us all to follow Him
To His Father’s home above.

But we can have a foretaste
Of what it’s like in Heaven
When selfless love is born
Within our hearts.
By Michael Thompson

As always, we welcome contributions to
The Poetry Place, which can be sent to the
‘NewsFour’ offices at 15 Fitzwilliam Street,
Ringsend, Dublin 4.