My Granny was really old.
She was born in 1908
and spent part of her childhood
on a farm at Fahan, in Donegal.
My Granny loved living there.

My Granny had a wee saying
that she used to use
when she was feeling on top of the world.
She used to say,
“I wouldn’t call the King my cousin!”
It seemed to mean,
“I’m so happy in myself
right at this minute
that nothing could make me feel happier!”

Today was the first day
of my summer break from work
and I headed out for a cycle
to Tullyrusk Bridge.
I sat by the river’s edge,
and watched the river
as it raced and rushed,
cascaded and churned,
tumbling past
on its way to Lough Neagh.

On the way home
I perched, Peter Pan-like,
on Ballydonaghy Bridge,
tilting my face up
to enjoy the precious summer sun
and revelling
in my new-found freedom.

Suddenly,
a thought popped into my head,
“I wouldn’t call the King my cousin!”

I thought of My Granny
and how she had loved
her countryside childhood.
I smiled to think that,
despite being separated by a generation
and by death,
there’s something of My Granny in me.

And, do you know what?
I wouldn’t call the King my cousin!

© Claire Murray, 3rd July 2013