Compline

Having not used this blog space for a very long time, I want to re-purpose it to share something that I have been remembering how to enjoy over the last 12+ months: poetry. 

I'm not great and there is lots that I write that won't make it near this page but I'd like to share little bits here and there and this seemed as good a place as any... 

First is something I wrote just over a year ago, sitting on the harbour at St Abbs, watching the light fade on a warm night. 

Compline

Purple panes with orange lights

Shimmering over the rippling tiles.

Rocky pillars, dark and stern in their

Evening colours.

 

No bells, save for the chimes

Of ropes on masts set aside,

Ready for tomorrow’s labours.

No choir, but the songs

Of birds as they find their night’s rest.

 

And yet, this is a great cathedral.

A place for this pilgrim to rest.

To know the power of the Creator

As her tired bones settle.

To hear the gentle voice of the One

Who alone will bring her tired mind peace.

 

“In peace I will lay down and sleep

For you alone make me dwell in safety.”

 

May 2025

St Abbs Harbour