It’s invaluable to relax and spend time with people of different generations to oneself. .. both youngsters and elderly. With regard to our countries future, teenagers need to be challenged in different ways.

The residential holidays I helped with - through Face2Face E.T. - have been as much a blessing to me, as to the youth’s participating. The trust, overseen by Kevin Moore, has run Checkmate ( chess ) and Sketchpad ( art ) weeks, in a rural centre in Bedfordshire many times. All Face2Face events aim to introduce participants to the Christian faith too. It was at one such week that I started to pen my longest poem ..‘Son’s of Adam’, when my Christian fait h was being challenged by life’s events. During travels around the U.K., I devised some less serious odes too.. Micromoth being one, and ‘Evan Evans’.

Poetry has helped me reminisce about favourite places and memories. I have included 4 poems about Italy in this selection.

But a recent painful season ( bereavement of my mother ) also focused me to compose ‘Lotus Lily’ .. in her memory, a poem which is deeply emotive to me.

The Biblical king, David, found himself expressing many raw feelings to God > recalled for us, in the book of Psalms - from which I have drawn much inspiration.

Ps. 19 vs 1 ‘ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork .’

Ps 42 . vs 1& 2 ‘ As the deer pant s for living water, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?