At the beginning of last month, on National Poetry Day, I attended a workshop which was held in The Old School in the Churchyard and lead by Chester Cathedral’s Poet-in-Residence Julia McGuinness. There were about 15 of us present, from across the Diocese, and the theme of the workshop was “Making words count” and we were all encouraged to wander around the Churchyard, Church and Quiet Garden and to look carefully at and think about the things we saw, and then to see if we could write about them in new and different ways. I ended up writing a poem from the perspective of one of the many former upright or “table top” headstones which were laid flat in the 1960s to form part of the new Churchyard paths’ scheme.

Thinking about the coming month though and the various celebrations and services, including of course All Saints and All Souls and Remembrance Sunday, our Poetry Day theme seems very appropriate and relevant – making words count. November’s festivals and services are amongst the most important in both Church and national calendars – from the simple yet incredibly poignant and powerful reading of names at both All Souls and Remembrance, to the short sentences and phrases on Remembrance Sunday with which we’re all so familiar, and which mean so much – “They shall grow not old........At the going down of the sun........we will remember them.”

And as for the poetry, the opening lines of poems such as John McCrae’s “In Flanders Fields” say so very much and are incredibly evocative: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow, Between the crosses, row on row........” One of my favourite poets is Edward Thomas, who was killed on the opening day of the Battle of Arras in April, 1917 and whose poem “Roads” (written in 1916) contains this beautifully poignant verse:

“Now all roads lead to France

And heavy is the tread

Of the living; but the dead

Returning lightly dance:”

Making words count is of course an ongoing task/responsibility for all of us and not just aspiring poets. We know how important our words can be, for good or for ill, and the Bible has quite a lot to say, in different ways, on this subject.

Remembering and giving thanks for the sacrifice of so many people during past conflicts, as well as our own departed loved ones, is so important for all of us, and November affords us numerous opportunities to do this together as a worshipping community (as well as individually of course) and I look forward to welcoming everyone to the Church over the coming weeks.

May God bless us all in this coming month.

The Revd Alec Brown

Vicar.