It’s been raining
for days
and I’ve got soaked
many times –
leaving out the rubbish,
getting spuds from the garage
and putting out a massive spider
that’s been trying
to take up residence
under our sofa!

Finally,
the skies clear,
the rain stops
and we all head off
to Slieve Foy
in the Cooley Mountains.

A tiny stream flows along
right beside our path
carrying autumn leaves
in its clear waters.
A sheet of water
slides gently down
along a sheer rock face,
pitter … pitter … pitter …
as it drips
onto the stone below.

On our way
we find countless waterfalls!
Waters tumble and race,
jostle and pour,
splashing and churning
before disappearing
underground,
murbling and gurgling
somewhere
beneath our feet.

To my surprise
I find myself thanking God
for this week’s rain,
without which
we couldn’t possibly
have been blessed
with the wonder of waterfalls
tumbling playfully
in joyful exuberance
along the paths
of Slieve Foy.

© Claire Murray, 23rd October 2022

It’s May-time.

Across the street
the black pavement has been
transformed
by the delicate petals of cherry blossom
that cover it
like a pink, old-fashioned,
tufted bedspread.

Further up the street
pink drifts form
along the kerb
as the wind blows.

At the top of our street
purple clumps of bluebells
are poised
and, in our garden,
bluebells have popped up
in every conceivable corner.

Blossoms and bluebells –
so beautiful …
and so special.

You see,
this is the time of year
when it’s Danny anniversary.
In Danny’s final days
cherry blossoms and bluebells
were everywhere!

Today’s blossoms and bluebells
remind me of Danny –
a man of ginger hair,
green fingers
and gentle nature.

May he rest in peace.

© Claire Murray, 4th May 2022

Sometimes soldiers
get up to high jinx,
playing all sorts of pranks.

Dolores encountered this
during the Troubles.
She woke one morning
to find that her favourite,
massive, hand-painted
garden gnome
had disappeared during the night
during a routine army patrol
by armed soldiers.

Later that day
Dolores squared up
to a tall, grey-haired army major
who listened apologetically
while Dolores gave him
a dressing down.
Embarrassed soldiers then returned
the garden gnome
from their Land Rover
where he had been safely installed
as their mascot.

A bit of high jinx –
no harm done.

During Lent
I find myself remembering this incident
as I contemplate
the Passion of Jesus.

Soldiers in the Roman army
amused themselves
by humiliating Jesus –
dressing Him up
in regal clothes
and crowning Him
with thorns
as they mocked Him.

Sometimes I wonder
about those soldiers.
Did they just get
carried away
and later regret their actions?
Did the memory of it
keep them awake at night?

Or did they look back fondly,
believing it to be nothing more
than a wee bit of high jinx
that didn’t really do any harm?

© Claire Murray, 24th March 2022

Spring Day

Spring sunshine wakes me
as it peeps into our room
around curtain edges
proclaiming the promise
of a sunny day.
Such a gentle and joyful alarm call –
wonderful!

Out in our street,
pink blossoms fall like confetti
from cherry trees
and play chasies
with the wind.
Eventually,
some blossoms stretch out
in pink drifts
along kerb stones.
Others transform
the house on the corner
into a house from fairy-land
whose garden is carpeted with blossoms
like pink snow.

Finally,
an evening walk
with a good friend
in the gentle evening sunshine
where we find ourselves
surrounded on all sides
by the multi-coloured splendour
of Spring.

Thank you, Lord,
for warm Spring sunshine
to wake us,
playful cherry blossoms
to make us smile
and good friends
to accompany us
on life’s journey.

© Claire Murray, 28th April 2021

Tonight we stand
at the cusp of 2021.
But this New Year
is very different –
none of the usual
New Year’s Eve excitement
at all.

2020 began
with such promise …
before morphing into
the year of Coronavirus –
a year in which
real life has begun to mirror
science-fiction.

Uncertain times!

Little wonder
that we view 2021
with apprehension.
As rockets explode outside
to celebrate New Year
we find ourselves
ringing-in this New Year
by saying the Rosary
together.

I feel that Paul and I
are stepping into 2021
with Jesus on one side
and Our Lady on the other.
I feel somewhat reassured
and I feel that sense of hope
that only God can bring.

© Claire Murray, New Year’s Day, 2021

Our wee family
heads off to Clonmany
in Inis Eoghain
for a special celebration –
Aoife is turning 25.

During a relaxed breakfast
Aoife opens cards and presents
while we all wish her
a happy birthday.
Then we all hop in the car
and make a bee-line
for Malin Head.

It’s a sunny, summer’s day
and the beauty at Malin Head
is truly breath-taking!

On arrival
we find that the bright sun
and cloudless, blue sky
have tamed the mighty Atlantic ocean
and today
it laps gently
against Malin’s rugged headlands.

As we sit on rocks
savouring the view
Aoife calls out,
“Look – dolphins!”
And there,
coming round the headland,
is a school of dolphins!
We watch for ages,
fascinated,
as these dolphins progress,
in twos and threes,
around the coast –
a continuous sequence
of leaps and dives
that’s almost hypnotic
to watch.

Eventually
the dolphins are out of sight.

Wow!

Lord,
thank you
for this graceful procession of dolphins
that swam by specially
on Aoife’s birthday,
thrilling our wee family,
filling us all with wonder
and making Aoife’s 25th birthday
feel like a joyful, family celebration!

© Claire Murray, Summer 2020

We live in a wonderful house.
And do you know
what is so wonderful about it?
It’s a house of happy memories!

This is the house
whose beautiful garden was built
by Danny and Dolores,
helped greatly along
by Dolores flagging down lorries
from the brand new M1 motorway
and directing drivers to deposit
their loads of top soil
in her garden
(which, like the motorway,
was under construction!)

This is the house
where Paul proudly held
Dolores’s colander
high above his head
to celebrate
so many All-Ireland winning goals
scored in his back garden
and where Paul, as a child,
leap-frogged
over newly-planted conifers
that now stand over 30 feet tall.

This is the house
where I first met Danny and Dolores
and asked a bemused Danny,
a keen gardener,
“Mr Murray,
why do you have
so many spades?”

This is the house
where a mischievous Danny
planted one fox glove,
promising a reluctant Dolores
that it would only last
one year …
and every year
dozens of new ones appeared
to replace the original one!

This is the house
of parties and Christenings,
and of Dolores’s delicious home-baking –
pavlovas and apple cakes,
vol-au-vents and sausage rolls
and ham, cheese and pickled onion
all skewered on a cocktail stick!

This is the house
where Fiachra, Aoife and Niamh
all decorated the Christmas tree
with such enthusiasm
for Danny and Dolores
each year.

This is the house
where Danny would grin out at us
through the back door,
delighted to get spending
precious time
with his beloved grandchildren.

This is the house
where Fiachra stuck a stick
in the ground
and an apple tree grew!

This is the house
where Danny used to walk Aoife
to the rosemary bush
and show her
how to release its aroma.

This is the house
where Danny would gather
tiny wild strawberries
into his giant hands
and decant them carefully
into Niamh’s tiny, eager hands
so that none fell to the ground.

This is the house
where Dolores, who was diabetic,
used to hide sweeties
in the pocket of her pinny
and who assumed
such a look of innocence
when she was surprised in the act
of eating a forbidden Mars bar
and chucked it over her shoulder!

For me,
this is a such house of happy memories
or, to put it another way,
home!

© Claire Murray, 25th July 2020