1362

Why should we trust you when you don't respond?

The widows cry, the orphans starve, the young

Ignored, un-nurtured, the gullible conned,

The weak ripped off, the caring still unsung,

While rich men tyrannise, the strong oppress,

Money counts for everything and cash

Can buy the world, paid in excess

To bribe, corrupt, grind down, abuse and smash.

And where are you in all this pain and greed?

Don't point me to the Psalms with all their Kant,

Just show me where you've met your people's need,

Where promises are kept as they are meant.

I know you suffered but the world still groans

And prophesy does not mend broken bones.

Brian Hick July 2014

©copyright Sally Hick 30.7.25

 1361

The blood test

Was okay.

One day

Soon

It won't be.

Brian Hick July 2014

©copyright Sally Hick  July 2014

 1359

Men!

Why do men always talk as if they know?

Ok, I am as guilty as the rest

But listening is terrifying when

A man sets forth ideas, which, at best,

Are cobbled from dubious web-site or,

Worse still, procured from Twitter or Facebook,

Then pontificated as the Truth,

Regardless of his partner's dubious look.

Why do we do it? Why do we go on

As if we know it all, when truth to tell,

We've not a clue and this is just hot air

To justify ourselves while our head's swell?

You know the truth, and smile behind your hand,

At all men who think they understand.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 25.7.25

 1300

For Lucie

This is just for you;

'What's money for, anyway?

As Dad used to say.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 24.7.25

 1297

               Bodiam Butts

I loosed six arrows, for three pounds,

At Bodiam this summer's afternoon.

Two reasonable shots just hit the mark

The others would not have impressed the King

Six hundred years ago, when William fought

At Agincourt for Henry, and survived

The dysentery, French horses and mud.

This is a game for tourists, but in France

A kingdom hung upon that arrow's flight

More than heroic speeches or the calm

Of chroniclers at fifty years remove.

So I am pleased my arrows made their mark

And something of those ancient Yorkshire genes

Are, maybe, more than just romantic dreams.

Deo Gracias; William Hick - 1415 survivor of Agincourt

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 23.7.25

 1296

Love conquers all; well that's what they say,

Though looking round it doesn't quite ring true

With violence and aggression holding sway.

Love conquers all?

But when we are together - me and you -

It seems there is another game in play

Where winning has no part and though a few

Boulders have been strewn along the Way

This love, of fifty years, is ever new,

Unconditional as each dawning day.

Love conquers all.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 21.7.25

 1295

St. Leonards, July night 2013

Hannah wanted to paddle,

So we did,

Leaving our shoes and socks

Dry on the pebble bank.

A haze of apricot from the late sun

Softened the silhouette of Beachy Head,

Where tiny dots of light

Pricked out the line

Between tidal forces and the shore.

The moon,

Unnoticed earlier,

Had crept into a sudden blaze of light

Reflected on the stillness of the sea,

Until it fractured

In the turning waves

To broken diamonds in the evening's blue.

Even Hannah's chatter

Calmed,

As we stood,

While shingle oozed between our toes

And twilight's calm

Ravished all our woes.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick July 2025

Hannah is our granddaughter, then aged 13

 1294

Of course you're there but I will still wait

Until you tell me what I have to do,

Like some old prophet searching for the bait

To reel in converts daily, two by two.

Your silence in this noise of summer days

Rests on my heart, knowing you're aware

I'm eager to give more than simple praise

And worship, if you need me to share

The joy that comes from following the Way

The joy I feel in your abiding love

The joy that never fails or says me nay

The joy that floods like sunlight from above.

            Your silence speaks more life than life can bring

            Turning bleak winter to eternal spring.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 14.7.25

 1293

I know I was wrong to let anger have its way

And even if the argument was right

A violent outburst never should hold sway.

I know I was wrong.

But how to make amends, when passions bite

And tear old friendships, flung in disarray

Like hamsters to Rottweilers, who in spite

Will maim and maul, even as they bay

For blood, blood, blood into a night

Unslaked before they snarl and slink away.

I know I was wrong.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 11.7.25

 1292

Teach me how to love, as you have done

Since the world first stumbled into life

And consciousness warmed to the morning sun.

Teach me how to love.

Returning love to family and friend

Is easy, but I need to love the one

Who undergoes rejection without end,

Who courts loathing, a propensity to numb

All thoughts of generosity, to rend

Relationships until all hopes succumb.

Teach me how to love.

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 9.7.25

I believe this was about the time Brian started working with a charity for the homeless. Sally

 1291

Lark where are you when I need your song;

Sing to cut into my aching heart

Sing to free my soul, to take my part

When silence shuts me from the thoughts that throng...

Brian Hick July 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 7.7.25

 1290

What do I do now, as I have tried

To follow all that seemed to be the Way

As openly as anyone alive?

What do I do now?

It seems that what I gave was not enough

Or wasn't what was wanted by the few

Who kept their counsel till things turned out rough

And change was needed, a new point of view,

To meet the needs of those whose lives are tough

Requiring more than coffee-time in lieu.

What do I do now?

Brian Hick July 2013

On leaving the Unitarian Church (Sally Hick)

©copyright Sally Hick 4.7.25

 1289

There are only two

Things that make life worth living;

You - and Shakespeare!

Brian Hick June 2013

©copyright Sally Hick 2.7.25