The Poetry of John P. Hindle

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    • Grief

      My heart fragments into the stained glass
      of Saint Mary’s Church.
      You’ve been holding court
      waiting for your Requiem Mass,
      I was the last to leave last night.

      I follow you out of the church,
      empty with the thought of losing you,
      every sense lost at sea,
      you got the-all clear,
      just two weeks ago,
      the black dog is my shadow.

      Heartache is not a hidden burden,
      but a profound depth of love,
      it lingers in the echoes of laughter,
      in the memory of music and holidays,
      remembering our deep understanding.

      When Father John Paul read you your Last Rites,
      you moved towards his sign,
      God only knows the struggle behind your eyes,
      before the chain broke,
      the heart I gave you still warm in your palm,
      time has slipped through our fingers
      like the rosary beads in your other.

      I packed up your clothes,
      an old friend told me
      grief reshapes you,
      you’ll grow into the space,
      I remember when we moved into our home.

      May 15, 2025

    • Decadent Airwaves

      I was delighted to be invited as a guest onto the Decadent Airwaves poetry programme on Beyond Radio.
      Reading poems from some of my favourite poets and my poems was a pleasure as was the company of Paul Fisher, Matt Panesh and Amelie.

      Poetry darts was fun too!
      You can listen to the broadcast here

      February 13, 2025

    • Oncology

      In my darkest hours, when shadows loom,
      a flicker of light dispels the gloom.
      Hope, a beacon, steadfast and bright,
      guides us through the endless night.

      When the storm clouds gather,
      hope remains, gentle and mild.
      A whisper of chaos, soft and clear,
      reminding us that dawn is near.

      In the heart’s deep chambers, where sadness lies,
      hope plants seed that will never die,
      with every tear, a promise grows,
      that from the ashes a new life will flow.

      Through trials and tribulations, we find our way,
      with hope as our compass, come the day,
      it lifts our spirits, fuels our dreams,
      a river of light in life’s winding streams.

      No matter how heavy the burdens we bear,
      hope’s gentle touch is always there,
      a reminder that within us all,
      lies the strength to rise, to stand tall.

      So hold on to hope, with all your strength,
      for it will guide you through the night,
      and when the dawn breaks, pure and true,
      you’ll find that hope has carried you.

      October 12, 2024

    • Anxiety

      (A poem in response to Cancer)

      There’s nothing you can do,
      but follow the flow
      and cultivate the river,
      forget your old routine,
      swapped for care and comedy,
      nurture the goodness of today
      and each step will fall easier,
      let love cushion your feet,
      hold your heart in esteem,
      your courage and bravery
      will set your demons free,
      our friends call and say,
      you are in their thoughts and prayers,
      remember hearts beat for love,
      you don’t need to let the fear in,
      in these struggling times,
      put yourself in God’s hands.

      March 11, 2024

    • Cancer

      glass head with cloth wrap
      Your tears like a sea,
      penetrate my skin
      and flood my soul with sadness,
      absorbing the unknown.

      I listen to you sleep
      and hear your heartbeat,
      I am your shadow of disbelief,
      and meditate in memory.

      Reminded of Mother’s scare,
      my heart anchored in pain,
      our world split
      in this time of faith.

      Keeping the lamp inside,
      we have a change in the rhythm of life,
      in this sinking sand
      our spirit needs to hold on.

      February 23, 2024

    • Tranquility

      (in response to a walk on the seafront in Heysham)

      a walk on the seafront in Heysham
      The cool breeze wraps around my ears,
      I forget a camera and pause,
      absorbed in panoramic view,
      the bay brings peace to thoughts,
      freedom whispers around in silence,
      Cumbrian mountains in mist
      like a citadel to a secret world,
      not a ripple of water around me
      in sight of the ocean.

      My eyes close
      and reflect this moment of solitude,
      the soul calmed and captured in this stillness,
      sky reaches out forever
      my concern released to the world,
      twilight direct to heart,
      encapsulating the mind.

      January 19, 2024

    • Walking Boots

      (in response to painting ‘From the Crags’ by Mike Barlow)
      painting by Mike Barlow for poem Walking Boots
      ‘From the Crags’ by Mike Barlow

      Silence echoes,
      unlocks mechanics of mind,
      eclipses nine-to-five,
      working the inner dynamo,
      escape in the compass needle,
      in nothing there is everything,
      nature carries you
      and hears your heart in the openness,
      the space that holds you,
      projecting this earthing,
      peace sets the soul free.

      November 6, 2023

    • Searching for four leaf clovers on the The Delph, Blackburn 1988

      Searching for four leaf clovers on the The Delph, Blackburn 1988

      What was I ever looking for?
      Perhaps my father’s sense of adventure
      or was I getting away from my mother’s control,
      Was I rising from routine or ruin?


      Comfort in the 9 to 5,
      reason in rigmarole,
      stability in work and business,
      the ego and id in overdrive.


      I always felt I couldn’t get enough life,
      it gets addictive,
      what you like,
      what bounds can break you.


      Underpinning my own existence,
      all ideas form from consequence,
      the rebel was roused
      and in subculture found identity.


      My Parka ready,
      music in my ears,
      Farah shirt,
      Gola trainers.


      Thursday club was Indie night,
      my late night escape,
      my search for freedom again,
      at least I felt free on the dance floor.


      I always questioned reality,
      What did I want in the mundane?
      dulling my senses and draining
      the colour from my eyes.


      Connected by streets and history,
      blood lines like routes,
      always takes you back to a place
      where there is an innate connection.


      The boundary lines bond
      an unspoken language
      and when you are there
      no-one is a stranger.


      When people look you in the eye
      and you see their soul and spirit
      acceptance is second nature,
      What was I ever looking for?

      October 21, 2023

    • Hidden Depths

      Thoughts on my exhibition of paintings and poems

      I immerse myself in colour,
      in a moment my past comes
      together in contemplation,
      the hard wiring of the world
      stripped away.

      Layers surface in meditation,
      memories dance through darkness,
      a life time of work
      at my finger tips,
      I am liberated.

      Looking at my bare bones,
      through detachment from life itself,
      hidden depths echo,
      in between flashes of entity,
      memories position in abstraction.

      Paintings punctate
      in explosions,
      freedom in the turbulence,
      harmony in division,
      bringing meaning closer to existence.

      August 16, 2023

    • In the Arms of Nature

      As day draws to its climax,
      red sun falls in patchwork cloud;
      fragmented colours of pink
      lie across the horizon
      in fading blue sky’s canvas,
      holding onto the day
      in mid summer’s moment;
      air passes bridges
      and trees flower.

      If this is paradise, then
      I’m in heaven,
      cocooned in Nature’s bosom.
      For this time I reason with nobody,
      nature is mine to see
      what I choose.
      Inspiration reflects from water.
      The darkness cuts through
      a thousand images,
      as day folds gently
      over the bay.

      June 27, 2023

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