Richard Macwilliam » Inspirational Poems

To Skate

admin — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 10:11:09 +0000

Your legs become at one with the ice,
Warmth that flows into the cold.

The ice, the friendly ice,
Has many faces:
Smooth like sheened gossamer it takes the blade like water,
Like the kiss of a lover’s lip or a child’s soft touch,
A caress that runs deep,
That gives power and grace and precision,
And above all, speed.
On such ice the skaters sing in their movements,
And their smiles are pure joy;
Their moments are a nothingness,
And they become pure in their existence.
Wherever they are, they’re alive;
They are themselves,
And their lives are like water,
Fluid in their living.

On other ice the blade sinks too deep,
And everything is effort:
The smiles remain, but this is a time for learning, not dancing.

To learn!
Ah, to learn.
Pushing to the limits, each skater finds themselves tested:
Beyond the test comes transcendence,
And the code for living life.

Feelings and the mind are everything;
Where the mind goes, the body follows;
They carry their treasure without knowing.

To skate, then, with these angels of the moment
Is to be in heaven.

25/01/2011

Wild-winged poem

admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 14:53:25 +0000

A wild-winged poem burrowed into my brain,
Crashed and spun and tore through neurones,
Hooked into nerves,
Jiggled fingers,
Moved a pen,
Came out as words

And the words FLEW!

They seeped along a street,
Through a car radio,
Blared into ears,
Made hands wave,
Lips smile,
Buildings shake,
Roads curve,
Clouds speed up,
The Earth spin,
The sun shine whiter -

Thoughts exploded in strange new ways,
Life became BRIGHTER!

So where does a poem come from? I don’t know, but I know a poem can make the world look different, if only for a few moments!

My Understanding

admin — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:36:00 +0000

I lay in Shadow
And looked up at Perspective,
Fancied a wash across a watercoloured sky,
Studied Form, thought about Negative Space,
Noticed Reflection and the underlying sketching
Of the Master’s hand.

Hmm.

So the Universe can switch with a little education
From one reality to another.

Strange, strange, strange.

I have arrived at the beginning,
Where there is no end,
And am seeing the world through the prism of my understanding,
Which is limitless
But clearly currently
Limited.

2002

I went to painting and drawing classes for a while and it changed the way I looked at the world

I had a hope, I touched a dream

admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:56:15 +0000

I had a hope, I touched a dream,
There was no easy way -
I walked into the dead of night,
For there I could not stay.

I walked, and when the moon shone bright
I found a path to climb -
I walked beneath its strangest light
In that most troubled time.

I walked, and chased away my fears,
I walked, I looked ahead -
Through a vale of endless tears
I walked where I was led.

And as I climbed and as I saw
The landscape all around,
I felt the tremblings of a war
And heard a distant sound.

And war it was, within my heart,
And what I heard was prayer -
A Greater Power was with me,
A Greater Power was there.

A Greater Power held my hand,
And gave me strength to fight -
I walked beneath the smile of God,
I walked towards the light.

Oct.2001

I could walk on clouds

admin — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:52:46 +0000

I could walk on clouds and catch moonbeams in my hands,
Kiss the morning dew as it fell and chase rays of sun in the morning light.

What could you do?

I could dream upon a mountain,
Bath in its ice-cold streams,
Whistle to the birds and whisper on the wind.

Could you?

We could marvel in the night,
Chase spiders away,
Get close to the sand and count its many grains.

Could you? Could we?

We should journey, then,
Open the doors to our imagination,
Fly off the face of the earth and touch the heavens.

Come with me, for we have much to learn and many things to see -
Open the doors, let the light stream in,
Join in the race to the stars.

Come! Let’s not wait! We must go!

2001

Do you let your imagination roam free? Do you question, and look, and wonder?

Here’s a lovely inspirational poem about spring by Alan Harris called ‘Our First Warm Day’

Change

admin — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:46:31 +0000

I would tear apart this constricting veil
That chokes my mind and holds me to this soil:
I would try, and try again, and gladly fail,
And consider it worthy of my toil

If only I could see in me some change,
If only I could find that other me:
If only I could venture past the strange
That is my normal and set me free.

There, if I could but find it is my self,
There, in that deep darkness, who I want to be:
There, silent, secret, is the hidden wealth
That is my spirit and my destiny.

Be not surprised if one day I break my shell:
I wish to see the heaven in this hell.

April 2002

Do you ever realise that you’re trapped and heavy? Do you ever feel that there’s a different you, waiting to break free? Do you ever think that this reality is not the only reality?

Hours into hours

admin — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 07:19:41 +0000

Hours into hours,
And the setting sun my life;
Days into days,
Weeks into weeks,
Years into years,
And at the end of it all
What have I learnt?

That love conquers all things,
That the power of love is more forceful than a river,
That love is my life.

Hours into hours
And days into days,
And now the mist clears and the sun rises again,
And what have I learnt?

Always head for the sun, my child,
Always head for the wild mountains,
Always dance in the rain,
And where the spirit soars – yearn,
And where the birds call, pray,
And where the dreams become the living, join in.

4/10/2008

What have you learnt about life?

Where troubles play

admin — Wed, 19 Jul 2000 09:45:28 +0000

Where troubles play, the feeling’s right,
The world comes out to see :
The wind is calling to the moon,
The pine-scent’s floating free.

And on the howls of distant dogs,
And down unto the sea,
In freezing air beneath cold stars
My spirit spoke to me :

‘Too long you’ve waited, time is done,
Too long – the time is right;
You change upon this mountain now,
You change – you change tonight!’

‘Too long’, I groaned, the time was done :
‘Too long!’- I held my head:
Better I had been unborn,
Better I was dead.

Better I had found a fire
And plunged myself in there ;
To change myself, impossible!
More than I could bear.

But all he said, my spirit,
Was, ‘Stand up tall and straight!
The time has come for change tonight!’ -
My spirit will not wait.

19/7/00

This poem was based on time I spent in Greece, chilled to the bone one night at the top of a mountain looking out to the distant sea, with dogs barking faintly and thoughts whirling around my head.