Fine Lines
By Jeanette O’Hagan
30 March 2013

Fine lines crisscross the map
In a tangled grid;
Pathways through the city’s maze
Lines in time and space
That situate the temporal place.

Fine lines adorn the beloved face
Marking passing years;
Deeper lines with time are etched
Tracing happiness and grief
Hostage to the memory thief.

Fine lines tangle in grey cells
Plaque builds up between
And neural pathways begins to fray
As memory fragments and fails
And confusion slowly entails.

Fine lines connect cross generations
In kaleidoscopic patterns
Love and fate entwine in cabled ply
Crossed lines and DNA signs
Link kin and kind in swirling designs.

Fine lines between faith and doubt
Trace tapestry threads
In dark tangles and loosened twine
Then flare into delighted design
As dawn brings another vision.

Fine lines of memories and love
Cross the cracks of life
Sketch names and fading narratives
Entangling generations in loving strife
Bringing meaning and life.

Fine lines inscribed by divinity
In the cup of eternal hand
Traces name and remembers history
Promises “I will not forget you”
Beyond time reclaims each hidden strand.

Fine Lines out of time and place
Fine lines between love and strife
Fine Lines in time and eternity
Fine lines that trace our names,
Our narratives and life.

© all rights reserved

“I will not forget you.
See, I have inscribed you on the palm of my hands.”
Isaiah 49:15-16 © NRSV

Winds of Time

I wrote this song last weekend as a tribute to my Dad, who I love very much. It was inspired by his current journey in the shadow lands of Alzheimer’s. When I was a child he was my hero and I will always appreciate the way he encouraged me to think and dream. I have a great respect for his integrity, his intelligence, his faith, his vision, his willingness to love and serve God, his compassion for the outsider and his intolerance of injustice. He has made a positive difference to the world around him whether that was as an engineer in Mt Isa and Zambia, running the book shop in Mt Isa or partnering with the church in Zambia and Zimbabwe. He has been a significant mover in the planting of three churches in Mt Isa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. As a father he could be strict or focused on goals outside the family, yet he could also be funny, instructive, gentle and affectionate. He had little patience for small talk or frivolities. Material wealth and position means little to him now as then. Over the last ten years, he has discovered the joys of tending the garden, of being still, and has revealed a gentler more social side to his nature. This is for my Dad.

Winds of Time

Chorus

The winds of time flow aslant the land

Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand

As memory erodes and

Love just keeps on growing;

Faith is growing, flowing

The love just keeps on growing.

Verse One

Irish lad sweeps Capetown girl to

Yellow summer grass and grey icy rains.

The north wind blows with oven heat

Or bone gnawing sleet, windows rattle

In a red brick bungalow.

Markets crash, warring nations retreat

Axis powers are admitting defeat

And nine children on

The love is flowing, it just keeps on growing.

Chorus

The winds of time flow aslant the land

Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand

As memory erodes and

Love just keeps on growing;

Faith is growing, flowing

The love just keeps on growing.

Verse Two

Westerly winds hum and whistle

Over rusty soils and rocky falls

Deep beneath the Spinifex bristles

Miners blast with monstrous machines

Extracting glowing ore in airless halls.

Sputnik speaks to Memphis beats

And young love meets ‘tween sacred walls.

Bright hope struggles

And the love is flowing, it appears to be going.

Chorus

The winds of time flow aslant the land

Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand

As memory erodes and

Love just keeps on growing;

Faith is growing, flowing

The love just keeps on growing.

Verse Three

Dry leaves rattle on dormant trees

Waiting for the next season rains.

Flaming sun plunges through the molten sky

Gilding over hot African plains

Sultry winds bring thunderous storms

Dusty moon steps and freedom’s pains.

Ebony friends pile into the waiting wagon

With laughing children

Faith is growing and the love just keeps on flowing.

Bridge

Bitter sweat

The memory erodes

As the winds are blowing, flowing

As the winds are going.

Chorus

The winds of time flow aslant the land

Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand

As memory erodes and

Love just keeps on growing;

Faith is growing, flowing

The love just keeps on growing.

Verse Four

Bush turkeys scratch garden soils

Building mounds beneath Mt Cootha’s coils

Kookaburra laughter and Currawong calls

Across tree lined valleys and urban sprawls

And western winds announce the show

Sea breezes cooling heated cheeks.

Tragedy strikes, towers and terror fall

And life is finding repose

in the borderlands, and love just keeps on growing.

Chorus

The winds of time flow aslant the land

Bringing rain, stealing soil and sand

As memory erodes and

Love just keeps on growing;

Faith is growing, flowing

The love just keeps on growing.

Bridge

Bitter sweat

The memory erodes

As the winds are blowing, flowing

As the winds are going.

Coda

The winds of time flow aslant the land

Bringing rain and stealing soil and sand

As memory erodes and

Love just keeps on growing

As memory erodes

The winds of time are blowing

In the shadow lands

Love just keeps on growing

On the border lands

And the love keeps on growing,

The love is flowing, It’s going,

It keeps on growing, it’s flowing, growing.

© Jeanette O’Hagan 5 November 2012