One small infant poor and frail two thousand years ago could be a million miles away. One rough stable meagre shelter from the night....

Dark Door Handle By Pexels on Pixabay I cannot tell you how the light comes. What I know is that it is more ancient than imagining. That...

Silent night? I can’t imagine It was so: Instead The distant murmur from passing crowds; The whisper of Joseph’s anxious reassurance, And...

The rain falls Like tears: Sometimes soft but unrelenting, Like the ache of a loss Long ago But never gone: Sometimes harsh and...

The pain was largely gone: Just a few echoes Like aftershocks From a cataclysm. I held him; Watching each breath; The miniscule rise and...

I thought I knew pain That night in Bethlehem: Wave upon wave Of unrelenting agony; And the cloaking loneliness As I longed For the women...

“A cold coming we had of it”? Well actually The cold was the least of it. The heat was much worse: Cold you can combat, But searing...

Amid the gathering darkness - Deepening steadily As the chill intensifies – The last few rays Battle for supremacy Knowing they must, For...

I had a choice that day: Listening to the empathic wailing Of the women At my husband’s wake, Feeling the deadness In my chest: Too much...

Icy despair Grips the landscape. The once refreshing White expanses Are now dreary: Endless uniformity, All hint of texture Or colour...

At first I was amused. Mystic visitors, I was told, Bringing offerings. At last, I thought, my fame had spread. Amusement though Was...

I cannot say If it was the leaving Or the arriving Which was more unsettling. Leaving: With all its uncertainty Abandoning the familiar,...

When the darkness is deepest Hope will be born When the ending seems endless Hope will be born When the world is despairing Hope will be...

There is an inevitability about dawn. No matter how dark the night: Disturbed by the seeming reality Of dreams and nightmares Or the...

They always say The mother-son bond is special. I don’t know I’ve loved every one of my children Boys and girls It felt no different. But...

What could express This cold wind of betrayal Lacerating my soul As everything in me reels At her words? What could express All my dreams...

Advent Is a time Of stark contrasts. Eager-eyed children (of any age) Await their gifts with fervent expectation: others anticipate...

A grey dawn emerges From the icy obscurity Of a seemingly interminable night: Delicate pink hues not strong enough To breach the dreary...

He stands Betrayal reflected in his unshed tears Incredulity etched across his pain-lined face. He had not seen this coming. Everything...

Mary Amy Deakin - Instagram at @amydpoetry Mary had never shown interest in babies so her mum thought she was crazy when she said she...

They’re taking the Christ out of Christmas Amy Deakin - Instagram at @amydpoetry They’re taking the Christ out of Christmas. Removing...

O come, O come Emmanuel Rescue your world and make all things well For us in isolation here Who groan in loneliness and fear: Rejoice,...

Read by Ruth Gouldbourne Bloomsbury Carol Celebration 2017

Read by Duncan Bartlett Bloomsbury Carol Celebration 2017

Read by Jason Dore Bloomsbury Carol Celebration 2017

Long night ahead? Nah, just a short day. It's not the hours of darkness that bother me, but the passing of the day: 'Life's little day',...