Brighid’s dailies

Brighid Ó Dochartaigh has taken up the practice of writing a daily poem – or a poem on the day’s she is able – inspired by haiku. Reflective, tender, sad, and, in being truthful, supportive of creative adaptation.

 

 

I track breakfast as a workout

and Garmin says 

I need 12 hours recovery

 

 

five fledgling great tits

fall over each other

and off the feeder

 

 

treasure the old friend

who knows what attitude to bring

and when to leave

 

 

stir the deep murky pond of sleep

and what rises up?

 

 

the distant dream

of a healthy nervous system

I wish I could rest

 

 

how do you live well

when everything makes you sicker?

 

 

I lie here on the floor

the sliver of sunlight through shutters

is my worldview

 

 

the landscape of my bed

spreads out in cruel mockery

shaped only by my daytime tossing and turning

 

 

all day the chattering 

of the bluetits at my window. 

I’m not alone

 

 

on another hospital exam bed

as they image my body 

in yet more ways

 

 

happy because

the woodpecker visited the window feeder

for the first time

 

 

shadows on the wall

mean it’s sunny outside

 

 

in the cool dawn window air

I dream of sunrise

from a bothy doorstep

 

 

dysautonomia 

 

all day my heart’s beat

like a wild bird in a cage

while I keep trying to rest

  

 

webcam osprey dramas 

and wild views

–a substitute life

 

 

today I hung up

yesterday’s laundry

tomorrow I might shower