Novembre – Mois des Morts

Grief is like a tidal wave from the sea of normal life. It rears up, dwarfs you, intimidates and shocks you, sweeping you away, leaving only the debris and detritus of your life in its wake. When you pick yourself up and look behind, the path is littered with fragments of your previous existence -…

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A Ghost Story – A True One

They say to see a ghost is a harbinger of death. How right they are. It was a long time ago. It happened in the USA, in a house known to be haunted. Only visitors to the house ever saw the ghost, never the family. The family heard noises, found furniture disturbed, items moved but…

Christopher Robin

I know, I know! But let's not mention age. Or Disney. Or be cynical in any way at all. I have always, always, always loved this bear. I even have one that is bigger than the four year old (see above!) I got him when I was twenty-two; that should be a decent indicator of…

One Golden Summer

The sun burnt away every last vestige of winter. It incinerated the bad memories of the debilitating snow. Summer was slow to arrive but when it did, its intensity endured for three whole months. People complained of the heat and humidity. 'We're not built for this' they said. 'For two weeks in Lanzarote, we can…

Love Island

The end is nigh. I’m gripped by it. I didn’t think I would be. Nor did I want to be. Surely this is way beyond my age bracket and depth is not something the show can be accused of. Despite myself, I love it. I love Love Island. It’s the only love I’m experiencing though.…

Moving Statues

Molly Malone. They moved her! When?? In the time I have been out of the country obviously. She stood steadfast for many years at the end of Grafton Street, a delineator of the North/South invisible border. A magnet for tourists. A handy meeting point. She was always in the sun, it glinted off the bronze.…

The Ducks

It has been the Winter of Black Leggings. And snow. It's May and it's still cold. But the sun is out occasionally and nature ploughs on regardless. There are ducklings in Herbert Park. They are new life, they are fluffy, they are tiny but they grow rapidly. I see them every day when I walk…

Like Sherbet in Herbert

My Mother is snowed in so severely at the foot of the Dublin mountains, she can no longer see her car. My brother, living in an apartment complex, had the misfortune to be living in the only block with no water supply since Thursday. He didn't go into details of the why but the how…

Complicated Grief

This is a thing, you know – a real medical thing. Because I didn’t know until recently. It is defined as a chronic, heightened state of mourning. Well now…who knew?! I mean, I knew because I saw it in my Mother every day, but I didn’t know it had a medical name. It takes many…

The Book of Kells Writing Competition

I didn't win. But I entered. Trinity is my Alma Mater and I've always loved the Book of Kells. And when I saw the competition I wrote this. And even though it didn't win, I kinda like it! The Monk The Monk He squinted in the light The nib it scratched as he began to…