John Twisleton’s poems

  Oxford Gaudy Chemistry brought me to Oxford and a scholarship at St John’s College. Seven years of study bore fruit in a thesis  on polythene and Teflon and an open door  to research and teach as Fellow of St John’s. Fifty years back I pondered that door. One Sunday sitting in the College Garden I saw another door beside it  and a voice of invitation as if from God which I answered by opening that door. Pursuing and uncovering truth took another turn with Truth pursuing me! I handed back my Junior Fellowship once selected to train as a priest heading back to Yorkshire. Mirfield, Bentley, Moorends, Guyana, Coventry, London and Haywards Heath trace my itinerary over fifty years,  instrument of Christ’s priesthood bringing God to man and man to God. ‘Gaudeamus omnes’ acclaimed the narrator at yesterday’s Gaudy Dinner shared with my peers. I rejoice with them at being used over fifty years, some in business, some in education, some in science. All part of a rich t...

  Thames waters From Haywards Heath to Hampton Court where train is exchanged for boat  carried on the Thames to Richmond. The sun sparkles on waters  where regal swans glide  overseen by herons poised to fish. ‘Princess Freda’ scatters the geese on her route downstream  plied day by day for a century. King Henry’s Palace gives way to wooded banks with weeping willows  past Teddington to Richmond. Thames waters ply on incessantly pushing their motor traffic to London and the sea beyond. John Twisleton  7 July 2022