May Days

We painted the courtyard pink
With white masonry paint mixed with tubes of my red acrylic 

No hardware shops were open in May                   
And our garden was blooming

The polytunnel put up on the first day of summer
Breakfast in there the following morning
Orange juice, boiled eggs and tea

Sowing seeds in module trays
A picnic bench plotted and plonked                
at the end of our pathway
Stepping stones found up the hill towards the quarry  

Within our 5K -
Wild garlic flourished and foraged                          
Along the woodsy part of the road                           
Wild flowers plucked and put in vases                    
And poems written about daisies and the sunshine that was hazy 

Painting outside as I did as a child
Belly full and growing a child 

There was time to watch the swallows through the window
And capture them on the SLR 

A swim in my blue bikini on Ballybunion beach     
Hot salty chips and vinegar in the car afterwards 

Eating ice cream in hot Kanturk                               
While walking alongside the river

Cat Stevens, Ziggy Marley and Anna Mieke
sang through our speakers                                                     

And I danced in the kitchen in May.

STEPH SHEAHAN