Sweet is the calm.uk

At this time of year we perhaps look forward to this year’s holidays/vacation and sometimes look at those airplanes above and wonder where are they going?  Ever wondered and wished you were on that plane going somewhere warm and exotic or to some far-off destination you’ve never been to before and thought I wish it was me.

It approaches from afar,

The fan blade sound,

Of which I want more.

To be that high off the ground,

Where does it head to,

I yearn to know,

To a place far away,

I wish I could go,

Somewhere exotic no doubt,

For a land that is strange,

What would it take to be there,

I have to arrange,

To the boarding gate,

For a flight of imagination,

Up above the troposphere,

To a new destination,

And when I get there,

Count the days till my return,

To fly back homeward,

With mileage to burn,

To a place in my dreams,

Of the sun and the sea,

I look at those travelling,

And wish it was me.

James Findon © 2025. 

Ever thought as you get older, I wonder how my life would have panned out had I chosen a different career or even a different relationship. Who knows but I bet I’m not alone in this thought.

Where would we be now,

If we had changed our past,

How would it have been,

Had the die not been cast,

As we get older,

Look back on our time,

Wish we were younger,

Well in our prime,

To make no mistakes,

And change our vision,

Made at that time,

A life changing decision,

But think of it this way,

We are who we are,

This hand that was dealt us,

To bring us thus far,

Had we taken a different path,

How would we have felt,

Exactly the same,

I have no doubt,

There is no guide book,

To map out our day,

It is what it is,

Be happier this way,

Embrace what you have,

You’ll miss it when it’s gone,

It’s not a rehearsal,

Same for everyone,

Your past is buried,

Enough now said,

Because when it’s over,

The word Dead means….Dead.

James Findon © 2025.   

With appreciation of:

Felix Dennis: “Never go back”.

Robert Frost: “The road not taken”.

Is it just me that hates Christmas as in its commercial side of things. All that pressure to perform for one day. 

How much more can there be,

To tell us of what we are lacking,

Of the festive fare and decorations,

and cardboard tubes we are cracking,

for the Yuletide celebration,

you must have all this food on the table,

so says the adverts on the telly,

Oh, only if we were able,

Lots of presents and gifts to buy,

With the Christmas spirit to drink,

With all that glitters and shines,

Time to make us think,

Is this really what Noel is about,

Serving Mammon but not God,

The light that enters our world,

Of the darkness we have trod,

But as the celebrations pass,

Into the day of the box,

The one on the wall tells us,

We have eaten too many chocs,

We’re made to feel guilty,

Of not having bought enough,

Only to be told later,

To the gym and “hang tough”,

We should celebrate the birth of a King,

But lose sight of our good intention,

Carry on as usual,

Brainwashed by Baird’s invention,

Forget all excess this time brings,

Leave behind those worldly views,

As the spirit of Christmas beckons,

Time to bring forth the Good News,

Don’t forget the family,

The ones we love the best,

Make time to see each other,

And enjoy a well-earned rest.

Merry Christmas Everyone.

James Findon © 2025.

Hi I’m James Findon and welcome to my poetry blog. I have my own sort of style of writing but wanted to share with you the joy of poetry and maybe inspire you to write as well. It all started with a book I read about a guy named Edward Thomas who was a literary critic then went on to write poetry, who unfortunately was killed in World War 1 and I found his biography by the author Matthew Hollis quite moving and somewhere within the grey matter decided I would like to write poetry and give it a go so to speak. And the title for my blog was divine inspiration from a hymn “For all the saints” verse 9 “Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed”. I write poetry about all different types of subjects some of which are personal some not. I also review some poetry and biography’s and have a good spread of poetry books with a lot of reading and writing to do. Poets that have inspired me recently, apart from Edward Thomas, are Wilfred Owen, Rupert Brooke and Seigfried Sassoon. All war poets from WW1. Other poets would include Sir John Betjeman, A E Housman, W B Yeats and from more recent times Pam Ayres, who I had the pleasure of seeing on stage at Shrewsbury recently on her “Doggedly Onward” tour of which my wife has bought me a signed copy of her book for Christmas. Bonus!

Disclaimer: Please note that all poetical works on this site are copyright of the author (James Findon) as well as any pictures, illustrations etc. unless otherwise stated and any copy/reprinting must have the approval of the author beforehand. My poetry is written as a way of telling historical facts, observations and personal experiences and are in no way intended to be politically incorrect, racially motivated or offensive to any of my readers. Please feel free to contact me if you have any comment or feedback on my work.

Please check out my other poems and articles. These can be found on the blog pages:

• The poppies hung upon the tree.
• The bonfires of deliverance.
• Book review’s.
• My Fab Four (a poet’s lament).
• Who can be against us.
• Under the Gazebo (a temporary situation).
• Upon God’s earth (a shadow cast).
• The beauty that lies under.
• A different kind of tiger (for the Slapton dead)
• Morning General.

“I might be strange and like a joke, but there’s nowt so queer as normal folk”. James Findon © 2025.