Congratulations to the founder of our group, Eileen Earnshaw, who has been awarded The President’s Cup for her entry in the Edwin Waugh Society annual competition. You can read the winning poem here:
At Sunday Mass. We are welcomed to his house, Whatever day or reason, philosophically, you could say that god is with us every day, a sort of whistle and he’ll come to you. Still we need that open door, the heavy oak turned back, the reveal of muted golds and sun beams through stained glass. We need the velvet smooth benches, the love stitched into kneelers, the incongruity of ladies hats, scarves, the squashed curled pantomimes beneath. Their worried faces beg forgiveness. Hope that Sunday roasts incarcerated on low lights don’t go mad and burn down the kitchen. We need the shuffling of kids, the patient faces of men and penance, damping down thoughts of promiscuity, maybe praying the pub is open, the coins in his pocket enough for a pint. The mass progresses, rhythm of hope and alleluia’s a basso profundo in the front row shows off the talent the lord has lent him. His wife and daughters in thin falsetto a beat behind, a mimicry of his majesty. Eileen Earnshaw