Derry is a city
that’s full of hills
and they leave your legs
wile, wile tired
when you’re only wee.

One day
when I was about three
walking up the hill at Stanley’s Walk
felt like too much of an ordeal
for me to endure
and I remember my Daddy
offering to give me a ride
on his shoulders.

I shook my head.
I was so wee
and my Daddy was oh, so tall!
What if I fell down
from such a great height?

Even at that young age
I knew that my refusal
really hurt my Daddy
and declining that ride
on my Daddy’s shoulders
is one of my life regrets.
And it left me with no choice –
I had to go uphill the hard way –
on foot.

As an adult
I encounter events in life
that feel too difficult
for me to endure
and I turn to My God,
My Daddy in heaven,
for help.
I pray that, as an adult,
I may find the courage
that I lacked
when I was only three
so that I may accept the help
that My God offers me
and face up
to life’s tough demands
riding high, in a spiritual sense,
on My Daddy’s shoulders.

© Claire Murray, 28th April 2018

My Daddy made a coffee table
which sat in the corner
of our living room.
It was my hiding place
when I was wee,
a place to find refuge
when I felt overwhelmed
or when I had done wrong.
Underneath the coffee table
was my space
I felt safe there
and would remain there
until I felt ready to emerge
and face the world again.

Some things in life
simply don’t change.
Now, in adulthood,
I still feel overwhelmed by life
at times
and I still do wrong.
Daddy’s coffee table
is still going strong
but I no longer seek refuge here.
Instead, I seek refuge
in prayer.

And sometimes, in prayer,
I feel like that wee girl again,
lying on the living room floor,
underneath the coffee table.

But I am not alone.

I sense Almighty God,
who really should be towering
oh, so high, above me,
crouching right down beside me
as He smiles and asks tenderly,
“Hello Claire, what’s up?”
My God then gently teases out
what’s troubling me
and sets me on the right path
so I feel ready to emerge, once more,
from underneath the coffee table,
ready to face the world
again.

© Claire Murray, 9th April 2018