It’s May
and the sun is shining.
Each day
As I drive home from work
I see Black Mountain
being gradually daubed
with creamy clumps
of hawthorn.

At last it’s the weekend.
We pack a picnic
jump in the car
and make a bee-line
for the Sperrins.

Swaying cow parsley laces
the roads into Draperstown
and coconut-dipped hawthorns
fringe the fields.
We drive up the steep Birren Road
and arrive at Banagher forest.

It’s a glorious day –
blue skies overhead,
tarmac bubbles underfoot,
shady slopes of bluebells,
glimmering waters
and tadpoles in a puddle.
Somewhere in the distance
a lone cuckoo calls.

Thank you, Lord,
for hawthorn fountains of blossom
that line our roads,
dot our hillsides
and herald the advent
of long summer days!

© Claire Murray, 28th May 2017