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A steady mind is all that I can claim.
I thanked God for my health and part,
Then asked Mary for another week again."
Above all else, Ford's collection of poems is spiritual in nature. Born from the poet's life experiences and biblical stories, each piece holds a religiosity and endearing quality in common, showcasing the writer's distinguishable voice. Beginning with "In Cana (When a Disciple Met Jesus)," Ford writes of His "delightful grace: / Finding a place in my arms, / His eyes bright and serene, / His cherry lips, / His black hair long and untethered." In "Griff: The Manager Of a Café On the West Australian Border," faithful Griff welcomes his many visitors: "$60 for a sleep in bed, / $20 for a steak and chips," after which everyone is thrown out at ten o'clock the next morning.
Ford writes of an abandoned, broken church, "so blue," looking out onto the street—its foundations bowed and sagging as uninterested cars rush by. In "A Table Top (In Bethlehem)," he describes a "shrouded nativity scene / Standing quietly in the corner / A handsome, dusty sculpture / With the baby Jesus in its middle / Tenderly admired by Mary and Joseph." Samson and Delilah make appearances in poems here, as does the Buddha ("a fat enraged blob") and the "Soup Patrol," offering soup and bread under the moonlight to hungry "anonymous figures," "broke and unsteady," some smiling, all grateful, none of whom take "any more than they would need."
Ford's poems are unassuming, using matter-of-fact language choices. Within these touching poems, the poet's unique voice delights in subtlety. Ford's poetic style and the subject matter—simple and simultaneously profound—share a common thread of Christian spirit from this English-born writer living in Australia, as linguistic idiosyncrasies shine within the stanzas. Ford's verse is quite accessible to the general reader, and lovers of wise and warm poetry will treasure these offerings.