Bake-a-yarn

Tuesday, 12 July 2022

Pram Jam

Today by chance

I read about the Pram Jam singers

for mums and minders

no experience required

to jam, not about nappies

or nappy pins

or state of the Health Service

or children's allowance

or back to school allowance

or inflation

or early budgets-

that will still come too late

for back to school.

A tenner a pram.

And today also by chance

on our daily dog walk

the brigade saw a woman

pushing a buggy,

not a pram,

(who pushes a Silvercross

anyway anymore?)

And in the buggy

wrapped in pink woollies

not a baby

but a dog.

It's the latest trend,

someone said

In Spain that is-

where someone saw three

in a buggy

in a bodega

greeted by the patron

like regular clientele.

The brigade were aghast

even though

it has to be said

we have our dog treats,

dog toys, blankets,coats,

beds, seat belts, and lately-

puppy cappuccinos.

And besides

that dog would be a howl

at the Pram Jam.

Monday, 11 July 2022

The Unit

I might write a poem today

about how I just consumed a chocolate croissant

two thousand calories at least.

Or my exhaustion

that could be post-covid

if I had caught covid.

Or the mental institution I used to visit

when my friend decided

she needed electric shock treatment.

And the patient there who invited me to her wedding,

adding, "The queen's coming too,"

a gash of lipstick where her mouth should be.

And the patient tied to her wheelchair

for tearing up paper and throwing it at staff.

"You'd as soon tie down the wind as her," my friend's view on it.

And my friend telling me as she gazed through the window

that she could see chickens all walking in a line

or playing hopscotch or walking on each other's shoulders.

"I didn't know they had shoulders," her comment on it.

And the bag packed beside her bed ready for discharge.

"They're letting me out. It was the last treatment that did it."

"And what about the chickens?"

"What chickens?"

Sunday, 10 July 2022

Sunday poet-Rita Ann Higgins

http://ritaannhiggins.com/

I met Rita Ann at the Sceine poetry festival in Kenmare a few years ago. She is a delight to listen to in performance. Am reading her book Tongulish, which probably refers to the language she uses.

The language of sweet talk, babble and blather,quibble and quizzical, according to the blurb.

She's feisty and irreverent. Fintan O'Toole says of her "Higgins could be regarded, in one of her guises, as Ireland's first rapper...

Follow link above to get a flavour of her achievements and style

Saturday, 9 July 2022

Trouble shooting

I don't know what the malfunction is

but every time I disconnect my lap top

I have to reset clock and calendar.

Software, hardware,malware issue?

Motherboard, driver, disk fail?

I hold the cursor, old style,on 2009

and project myself into the present

watching my errors flash by

stopping from time to time

to uninstall,reinstall,

log off and on again,

reboot myself into a Windows 10 version,

note when I overheated or fragmented,

consumed too much band width

or didn't have enough RAM

and reconfigure myself towards the now

sometimes even leapfrogging into the future.

Friday, 8 July 2022

Recall

Birds are often depicted as harbingers but also they can be welcomed as spiritual messengers....

Recall

When two pigeons land

in my back yard

they snap flash,

decades faded,

my mother's face

hand-over- mouth

to contain her laughter

that otherwise might fly

straight at my father

two feet away

toppling his camera

erasing the shot.

They always said

they'd come back

as pigeons.

Thursday, 7 July 2022

Woolworth Days

According to Billy Collins, Poet Laureate, poets are all pillagers and magpies so here's a little poem inspired by reading Vona Groarke's Against Loss

I'm always startled by the shift in time a scent can cause......a split second of memory breaking through.

With the scent of coconut shower gel

the cheap brand

probably from Woolworths

comes you in your young day

one snapshot only.

Kate Bush curls and hippy flounces

cheesecloth dirndl scattering

sandalwood in its wake

your head full of Heathcliff.

Are you still there young girl?

Are you still there?

Wednesday, 6 July 2022

The Irish Summer

Just back from a week in beautiful Kerry. Still waiting for summer to kick in.....

The wind

has found a tooth gap

in our defences

outside

the ocean

heaves

gulls glide

skim

hover

and then dive

an ephemeral

beacon of sunlight

scans

the shoreline

green

and then

grey

storm clouds

huddle

batten down the hatch

hug

a cup of tea

It will be a week

for scrabble.