What if,As the old lady knows,“All that glitters is gold”And she really is“Buying a stairway to heaven”? Now what if The stairway goes not up?Which down the ages was taught,Instead it goes downAnd heaven’s a decent?All the wishful thoughts of the yearsAre no more than just thatAnd wise people are deceived For heaven is not … Continue reading As The Old Lady Knows
freethinker
Poetry
There’s a poetry in the skiesAs the clouds go racing byGrey and whiteTorn by the bluster of the windSpat out and piling highThen scatteredDark over light Coming from afarWell writtenVerse over verseLine after lineGod has spokenIn iambic pentameter In rhythm In proseAn expression so wholeAs to tell the storyComplete for all to readEvery last detail … Continue reading Poetry
Monday Musing
Pogue, Good Morning. Has it stopped raining where you are? So this will be my last letter to Jonathan Livingston Seagull, for now, and to write it I have read Part 4 of the novel, a section that was not added by the author, Richard Bach, until 2014. By this point in the story Jon … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Pogue, I continue my reflections on the character of Jonathon Livingstone Seagull by way of another letter. I hope you enjoy my indulgence. Dear Jonathon, Last week I suggested that there are only a small number who are wired to seek after perfection. You are one such person, (if I can refer to a gull … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Dear Jon, I wrote my first letter to you last week and the whole experience of writing it was good. I felt challenged as I did so and moved to seek answers to the questions your life raises for me. Today I have a single question. “What caused you to seek perfection when all those … Continue reading Monday Musing
Letters to Pogue
Dear Pogue, The first letter I’ve written to you this year so, “Happy New Year”.What will we make of the days ahead and where will we be 12 months from now? My wish for you is that, looking back in 12 months time, you will feel you have banked 12 months well spent. Not a … Continue reading Letters to Pogue
Monday Musing
Morning Pogue, I’m feeling a little despondent this morning. I’ve just had a few days in Amsterdam and that may have added to my state of mind. I don’t know but listen. While I was there I came across the Embassy of the Free Mind, a library and an exhibit celebrating the free thinkers, heretics, … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Pogue, It’s raining. Again. And I noticed this morning that the News Papers are asking: “Where is summer?” And “Is summer over?” It’s only the first week of August, August the months when the majority of people in this country go on holiday. Then for those who have holidayed abroad, southern Europe, there are unprecedented … Continue reading Monday Musing
Understanding
Pogue, I had a conversation earlier with a person who seemed to want my attention. The person launched into a triad of opinions on a situation that had occurred. For some moments it was standing watching a train pass. Then there was a pause. I mistook this for the invitation to respond. My bad! They’d … Continue reading Understanding
The perfect blossom is a rare thing.
Dear Pogue, Have you ever thought that certain artist get to present their art over and over, such as a musician? They write a great song and people call out to hear it played at concerts. The artist enjoys the achievement again and again, as they should. But other artist don’t get to share that … Continue reading The perfect blossom is a rare thing.
Monday Musing
Hi Pogue, Another letter of home thoughts from abroad. I’m still on the road and moving through Bhutan, a country that is a complete contrast to it’s close neighbour Nepal. There is a sense of serenity and order with none of the apparent signs of being underdeveloped or the overt poverty that I had witnessed … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Dear Pogue, I have a story to tell you today to start the week. You up for that? Good. So there’s this guy who’s a farmer and he grows apples. They’re good apples and they sell OK. Then one day while he’s out walking he passes a neighbouring farm and looking over the fence he … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Hi Pogue, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking this last week or two, mainly spurred on by being with you and your two children. Their world, the world you create and try to protect, is nothing like the world of my childhood. They have Lego, but I had Lego. Difference is, I use to … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Morning Pogue, I did something yesterday that I haven’t done in a while, I went to church. You know I have a long and chequered history with the church and after being a regular attender for a long, long time, parted company with them. I would now say, when asked why I left, that the … Continue reading Monday Musing
Free Verse
Recently my mind has become a depository of rhyming words Stacked ever higher against the day of needLike a library with groaning shelvesBooks awaiting to reveal secrets yet untold,And now I find my vice become a habitWithout knowing it a collector I’ve become,But for all the resource I possessI still toil over lines that don’t … Continue reading Free Verse
The Search For Jesus
Pogue, Further to my email last week on Jesus I’ve continued musing and thinking about how I can discover the “real” Jesus. Is that even possible after all this time? Here’s a thing. Have you ever thought that Paul, the Apostle, never knew Jesus. And that’s important I’m thinking because they were men of a … Continue reading The Search For Jesus
Monday Musing
Dear Pogue, Forgive me! This started as a short thought and just kept growing! I have been noticing that amongst people there is often a need to be right. Have you ever noticed that? And being right, there is then a need to prove that they are right. I am sure there are all sorts … Continue reading Monday Musing
Which Jesus?
Pogue, I guess we’ve both been around a few churches in our time. I remember sitting in one and being approached by a man who proceeded to ask me: “Do you know Jesus” and then continued to tell me that I definitely need a personal relationship with Jesus if I was going to achieve heaven. … Continue reading Which Jesus?
Songs To Pogue…What I’m Listening To Now
Pogue, First one of the New Year. A little late? Yeah, life’s been busy and, to my shame, I’ve not done much listening🥺. But I’m back! And this morning, for some obscure reason, I found myself listening to a song I first heard 50 years ago😳 Here we are at the start of another year, … Continue reading Songs To Pogue…What I’m Listening To Now
Beautiful Mind
Her’s was a beautiful mindA place where the spring flowers growWhere autumnal leaves aboundAnd colours are awashYet as only nature canAll was held in harmonyShe had a beautiful mindGentle but self assuredQuietly constant without doubtLike the beach when only small waves lapFilled with purposeUndeterredAnd on days when the wind blewHer hair breaking looseThe waves would … Continue reading Beautiful Mind
Be Your Weird
YOU ARE NOT EVERYONE'S CUP OF TEAThe world is filled with people who, no matterwhat vou do, no matter what you try, will simplynot like you. But the world is also filled with thosewho will love you fiercely. The ones who love you:they are Your People. Don't waste your finite time and heart trying toconvince … Continue reading Be Your Weird
Monday Musing.
Well Pogue, We’ve spent two Musings thinking about the fact that we all have unique qualities and characteristics that make us different. Our weirdness. These things set us aside from others and make life more interesting. At least I think so. They also give us a new sense of freedom once we have learnt to … Continue reading Monday Musing.
Monday Musing
Hi Pogue, Remember last Monday we talked about embracing your weird? Well today I’ve been listening to the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, on the TV, five days before his first budget statement. And it was refreshing to listen to him because he told it as it is. We’ve some hard times ahead as a country and … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Dear Pogue, I came across a quote from Sylvia’s Plath yesterday where she said she had learnt “to embrace her own weirdness”. It sort of struck me that in doing so she found her own creative genius and whilst her life was a troubled one, she left us with a legacy of great poetry. Her … Continue reading Monday Musing
Monday Musing
Dear Pogue, I wrote to you in the week about the creative process and suggested that inspiration came from outside rather than within. I questioned whether we had lost our way and turned to our own very limited ability to find creative impulse. So thinking about this and practicing the thought to test its veracity … Continue reading Monday Musing
The Candle
Flickering flamePulsing,Sputtering lifeAnd dancingAlways dancing,Bent by breeze,Reaching upTo cast shadowsOversizedThere and goneAnd back,As flame flaresSpits from waxReceding Shadows fallDwindle,As dance declinesLight retreatsBreath is heldThen releasedWith luminosity renewedSo fragileSo persistentSo,Mesmerising? Will the flameOutlive the candle?
Monday Musing.
Pogue, I don’t know about you but there doesn’t seem to be a day go by when I don’t turn on the news to be told how much my energy bill is about to cost me🥺 Day after day after day! And I’m a smart guy (at least I think so) so I get that … Continue reading Monday Musing.
Monday Musing
Hello Pogue, I woke this morning in the land of fire and ice, Iceland. I’m on another road trip, visiting a place I haven’t been before, quenching the curiosity that drives me to travel. My initial impressions? It’s a land of rugged beauty with snow still on the hills here in their summer, steam found … Continue reading Monday Musing
Small Things
Dear Pogue, Do you ever struggle to find joy in life? I know I do on occasions and the last week or so it’s been particularly hard, what with having Covid and all. Inspiration has certainly been in short measure. But the thing is, and it is only as I sit here and search for … Continue reading Small Things
Back To The Beginning
Pogue, I have been thinking back over the journey we’ve made since the letters started to be sent. How things have evolved, for the better. How beliefs have expanded and our understanding of God, Source, The Great Spirit have changed. So I thought it may be appropriate to reread the very first letter and continue … Continue reading Back To The Beginning
Letters To Pogue 
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