Some Birthday thoughts on the 2nd of July

I lit a candle for my mother,

It came upon me as I passed the church.

They had felled all the trees along the pathway to the door;

The rose garden remained untouched.

The aged trunks were laid out in symmetry, the white stumps raw in the heat. 

The chainsaw smelled of heated oil, its teeth clogged up with sap.

I made my way to the coolness of the chapel and found the sacred heart.

I thought about the woman; her innocence, her depression, her lost and distant days.

A woman who carried me unaware I was there,

until I arrived unannounced in the early hours, 59 years ago today.

Poor Mam, Poor Dad, my arrival must have shocked.

Even when planned and prepared for, Children are always unexpected.

Rest in peace the both of you.

I think of both of you , often and a lot.