One Poem by Jeanna Ní Ríordáin

 

A Trip to Garnish Island

 

All her life, my aunt was superstitious

She swore blind by old wives tales and well-worn piseogs

And she placed blind faith in the universe to send her signs

 

Whenever she’d spot a lone magpie outside her window

She’d tense up and say ‘one for sorrow, two for joy’

And frantically scan the garden for another

                                                                                                                       

Dates too held a special meaning for her

Believing them to be the auspicious portents

Of momentous happenings or major life events

 

She’d make a point of noting significant days in her diary

Or on her kitchen calender, such as relatives’ anniversaries,

And her nieces’ and nephews’ birthdays

 

A few months after my aunt’s death, my family and I

Took a trip to Garnish Island, one of her favourite places,

To mark what would have been her sixtieth birthday

 

After a steep climb up the Martello Tower

We sat down on a bench in The Italian Garden

And to our delight a robin perched beside us on the ground

 

It never left our side as we sat for an endless moment 

Taking in the paradisal beauty that surrounded us

And the view of the sea and mountains just beyond

Jeanna Ní Ríordáin is an Irish-language translator from West Cork, Ireland. She has a PhD in French literature, a BA in Irish and French and an MA in French, all from University College Cork. She begun writing poetry in 2019. Her work has been featured in Quarryman VI, Quarryman VII, Poetry in the Time of Coronavirus: The Anthology, Volume Two, pendemic.ie, Lothlorien Poetry Journal Volume One – The Fellowship of the Pen and Lothlorien Poetry Journal Volume Six – Druids of Cernunnos. Her favourite poet is Victor Hugo.