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