John Twisleton’s poems

  Undercliff Walk Caught between sea and cliffs on a wide smooth path I make my way to Ovingdean. Behind me Brighton’s i360 carries to the sky. Before me I see Newhaven’s ferry  heading across the sea to Dieppe. The Undercliff Walk lends a perspective  on my life journey as I press forward inspecting the turning of the tide. The sea washes away sand to leave rock as I hope my final ‘washing’  will reveal the solid fruit of Love John Twisleton 25 April 2023

  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...

  Barbados We travel to friends on the island of Barbados  with sea, sand and palms sparkling in the sun. Life slows for a fortnight suiting thirty degrees heat with a centring of the day upon a bath in the sea. The people smile a lot greeting us on the street  and many speak first hand  of God as real to them. Their history is ugly. Britain held slaves here. Now the island is free and proud of that. With its warmth and light its beauty, its people  and their inspiration Barbados is second home. John Twisleton 18 November 2022

  Versailles On the metro to leave Paris for the Palace of Versailles  in the footsteps of Kings and Queens once with absolute power. They built grandly inducing awe in all who paid court. Each gallery room dwarfed us taking us up and out of ourselves. Beautiful rooms and paintings, gardens and fountains  lifted our spirits and  blessed us on our way. John Twisleton 15th October 2022

  Mona Lisa The most famous lady of all time bestows her looks on millions. Day by day they pursue her as we did to the Paris Louvre palace. Her eyes seemingly catch our eyes through a forest of phones raised in salute. Together with them we capture a moment of being with the famous. John Twisleton 14 October 2022

Homaging the Queen We went to London to see the Queen homaging her memory with tens of thousands. Through disability we gained wristbands to access her lying in state this evening. Meanwhile to Green Park, made more green by floral tributes circling the tree bases, opposite the heaps before Buckingham Palace,  thousands of tributes from young and old,  touching the spirit and helping make history. Then to Westminster Hall in sombre procession  and Queen Elizabeth, in death, raised on high. We stopped and turned to the catafalque adorned with crown, orb and sceptre  beside the shining Cross of Jesus.  A bow, and a priestly blessing extended, with heartfelt sorrow, tears and thanksgiving,  for a lady whose reign framed our times and whose passing intersects eternity. John Twisleton  15 September 2022

  Eurostar  We sped to the train hub at St Pancras crossing from regional to national and  then aloft to the international railway. Our first overseas journey blessed by privileges afforded to the disabled  sparing us stress from a lot of queuing. So, poetry for me, sketching for Anne as we wait reflectively at this hub  watching the busy world go round us. ‘All aboard the Eurostar’, they cry,   up we go, up and off to Paris to celebrate a big birthday! John Twisleton 14 October 2022