Gaynor Kane – “On Mothering Sunday, March 2020”

On Mothering Sunday, March 2020

I took ten minutes to myself
to walk the esplanade at Broughty Ferry
a welcome breather, while lots of doors were closing.

Cracked my back, muscles tight from packing up
my nineteen-year-old daughter’s student flat—
a holiday that turned into a rescue mission.

I watched another mother on the beach
teaching her wee girl to skiff drakestones
on gentle waters at the mouth of the river Tay.

Mother Nature delivered me a gift.
First, I heard them trumpet news of their flyby,
then saw them skim the castle turrets.

Nineteen swans whooping overhead, against
the wrapping-paper backdrop of a cloudless sky;
feeling the under-draft of their wings on my face.

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Gaynor Kane lives in Belfast. She has published three pamplets and one full collection of poetry all with The Hedgehog Poetry Press. She recently gave a number of poetry readings at Stendal festival, EastSide Arts Festival, Gloucester Poetry Festival, and Cheltenham Poetry Festival. Find out more at gaynorkane.com.