Poetry and Prose -
inspired by the Journey
 
Skellig Michael - By Jennifer Smith
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Mysterious Skellig, awesome rock,
Atlantic force for thy embrace  -
Today to me your strength unlock
To share with saints of old, your face.
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Great Skellig!
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O wonderous Skellig, living rock
Adorned with flowers of vibrant hue,
Where sea birds for their nesting flock
And God still speaks  - with words anew.
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Great Skellig!
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Jennifer travelled to Co. Kerry and the Skellig Isles with Pilgrim Adventure during the spring of 2004. Jennifer offers the following 'footnote' to her poem - 'The first verse was written at 5.00am before we ventured to Great Skellig  - the second verse after our visit'.
 
Candlelight  -  By Hilary Allen
Candlelight circles hallowed stones,
embraces the expectant.
Prayer emptied out
until silence listens for the Unseen.
Surprised by wordless Wisdom.
Simply enfolded.
God being present.
Hilary travelled to Iona with Pilgrim Adventure during the spring of 2007. ‘Candlelight’ is a reflection of time spent in the Abbey one Sunday evening.
Hilary writes, ‘The Sunday evening service was one of quiet reflection. In the stillness, I came to the end of my questions to God. I gave Him space’.
 
Pilgrim Adventure - Carole Hodgkins
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The hills of grey blue erstwhile were green,
The pilgrims walked onwards through heather's mauve screen.
Some chatting, some silent - over rocks and bog plough
While their spirit soars heavenward knowing that - 
Heaven is now!
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Ragged robin and orchid bring joy to the eye,
Mosses, soft green and springy 'neath our feet lie.
The deer on the hillside, the stags on the brow,
Convince me more strongly that - 
Heaven is now!
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The mysterious water hides Neptune's dark world,
The whale and the otter glide 'neath ripples froth-furled.
The Lord shares our travail, this I avow,
And His glory in flowers and His people reveals -
Heaven is now!
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This poem was written during our 'Walking to an Island' journey in 1996.
 
Reflections on Ensay - Carole Hodgkins
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I'm an oystercathcher wild and free
Soaring in flight over the Ensay sea.
I'm boldly patterned in black and white,
My orange-red legs are a brilliant sight.
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I have a stout red bill and shrill, piping cry,
There are people on Ensay and I'm wondering why.
Is it the stillness, the peace or the sheep,
The house or the chapel, or the charms of the deep?
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High I fly over sand and dune,
Freedom and song my good fortune.
Who is the figure I see below?
Where has she come from - where will she go?
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I'm an oystercatcher without discontent
To follow the Master is my intent
The figure I see is an Adventure Pilgrim,
Who strives like me to follow Him!
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To share the earth, the sky and sea
Companions together in life are we,
To laugh, to learn, to live and love
And walk with Him our Lord above.
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Carole travelled with Pilgrim Adventure to the Hebridean island of Ensay during the summer of 1998.
 
Dolphins - Cate Macfarlane

Listening to the music of the blue green sea, suddenly the rhythm changed. Out of the depths they rose… Dolphins… side by side, forming a perfect arc as a prelude to their extraordinary sea dance. They glanced before gracefully dipping and rising again. 

Mesmerised we watched and listened to the gentle harmony of their breathing. Effortlessly gliding and weaving through the waves, they escorted us across their homeland, the sea. 

As we marvelled at their performance, they vanished to the depths, where there is no beginning and no end. They had asked for nothing… 

My thoughts, written down on Iona, on the 18th August 2005, following the display by Dolphins, as we crossed the sea between Tiree and Iona. 
 
O Small Cross - Ryan Smith
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O small cross between land and sky
Connecting earth and heaven, by and by
How you change the landscape as you portray Christ's choice to the sons of men
Everything for me or all for you, nothing more or less
That is the choice you offer, O small cross of Lindisfarne.
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Ryan travelled along St Cuthbert's Way to Lindisfarne with Pilgrim Adventure during the summer of 2002.
 
Saviour - Revd. Teg Jones
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Searching sun seeks sea-sick sea to caress her,
Sea-sick sea seeks sun to sun-bathe,
Crotchety clouds collude to cover sea,
Sun seeks slot in sky to spotlight sea,
Sea-sick sea sighs to surrender to sun,
Scene strikes me speechless,
I see Saviour I surrender to the Son.
Image courtesy of: www.pembrokeshire.net
Teg was one of eleven pilgrims who explored St. David’s and the Pembrokeshire Coastal path during the summer of 2006. The sea views were often magnificent, though sometimes shrouded in mist and cloud.
 
Memory - Cynthia M. Spey
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Thank God for memory,
It is the youth of age
And Winter's welcome Spring;
It brings back love
When fleeting love has fled
To cause confusion in some other breast;
It strews with flowers
The rough paths that we tread,
And brings back birdsong
When the bird is dead.
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Cynthia M. Spey 
Distinguished Member  
International Society of Poets 
Poet of the Year, 1997, 
Washington, USA. 
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Cynthia has travelled with Pilgrim Adventure on several occasions.
 
 
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