On Our Reflection Edited by Julien Winspear
“The poems in this book, the fourth collection from The Wordsmiths, have been arranged to take you on a journey… through a series of reflections. The poems can be read as a dialogue between voices of faith and doubt, certainty and seeking. In its wider patterning this book mirrors themes we all return to in times of solitude and reflection.” Julien Winspear.
“What a delight to see a collection of poetry which is so direct and honest… humorous, accessible… These poems are celebrations of the everydayness of living… If religious feeling is an abiding presence here, it is never as assertion so much as a scrutiny and an acceptance of life in all its detail and design, sustained by a belief in some larger poem of existence.” Philip Salom.
MR. MEATH’S EYEBROWS
Mr. Meath knows all about Jesus.
Each Monday he visits our class
to tell us stories of loaves and fishes
and things that have come to pass.
Mr. Meath’s eyebrows are thick and athletic.
Each has a life of its own.
While one is leaping in wild adoration
the other drops down like a stone.
We sit on hard benches pretending to listen
recalling our Saturday ploys
but Mr. Meath’s eyebrows snare our attention
by acting out sorrows and joys.
Mr. Meath’s showing a picture of Jesus
at supper upstairs with some friends.
It’s a farewell party but nobody’s happy.
I wish he would tell how it ends.
Mr. Meath’s eyebrows are two shaggy dogs
grovelling as if sent to bed.
Some terrible sadness has stopped them performing.
I thought they’d be dancing instead.
Mr. Meath’s saying, “Have you any questions ?”
So I ask him, “Who washed the dishes ?”
All of a sudden, he’s laughing like mad
and his eyebrows are leaping like fishes.
Vera Urban