Today we are in Hazelwood
in the heart of Yeate’s Country
in county Sligo.
But as I walk along
leaf-carpeted forest paths
of orange and gold
I can’t help thinking
that, for me,
this is not “Hazelwood” –
it’s “Danny and Dolores’s Wood”.

Danny and Dolores
were real homebirds
who would leave their own wee house
for five nights only every year
to visit Sligo.
Here, in Hazelwood,
they would picnic
and feed the birds –
elegant swans
and bobbing ducks.

Walking along
copper-coloured country paths
I can’t help smiling
because I have such a strong sense
of Danny and Dolores here –
a sense that this woodland
holds many happy memories of them.

But for me,
the icing on the cake
is that today
is the feast of All Souls –
a day when we remember
people of faith
who have died
and gone before us.
And Danny and Dolores
had such deep, unfaltering faith!

I sense that today, somehow,
Danny and Dolores
are watching over us
as we dander along forest trails
in their special place.

May they rest in peace.

© Claire Murray, 2nd Nov 2019