What gives shape to a life
        the physical features
the scuttling back and forth
        the hills climbed
the seas in which we bathed
        the dry dust of different cities
different arrays of stone
        and in the distance mountains
and deep valleys
        our bodies ever changing
growing and adapting
        and ultimately ageing
and all the while
        the emotional features
shaping our feelings
        our hopes and dreams
ideas of romance
        ideas of love
ideas of achievement
        as we reconcile
to almost inevitable
        failures and count
our blessings

Hopkins wrote
        of the topography
of the mind
        that rollercoaster
of the inner life
        the one we live
silently to ourselves
        knowing that we are
our own deepest
        mystery : easier
to know another
        to see through
the pretences
        the subterfuges
concocted
        out of fear : and yet
the truth
        will aways out

Hopkins who clung
        to the precipice of faith
by his fingertips
        who feared the darkness
into which his heart
        might one day plunge

John Lyons