Mabh Savage
Words and the world passing by; how it sings to me; how I clamour back.
NaPoWriMo Day 15: Mid-Month Writer’s Block
This filler haiku
Was my husband’s suggestion
I quite like it, too.
NaPoWriMo Day 14: Watermelon Pretty
She dances the flamenco
Green dress red lined
Watermelon pretty
Lush and fat
Just like me
I sigh
Older than the rest
Just like me
I gasp
Her feet stomp with rhythm
With rage
Lucia,
I think they call her
Lucia the loud one
The fierce one
Dress sweeping above her head
Eyes holding the audience
Fixing you in place
Stamp stamp
Swing
Sear and back again
She tells a story
With her feet, hips and hands
The castanets rattle out their applause
And so do we.
NaPoWriMo Day 13: There’s nothing so great as the beach
There’s nothing so great as the beach
Sand between the toes
Warm and chafing
You know it’ll be a nightmare later
But right now
It’s lovely
Chilly, searing cold sea
Then after a minute,
It’s refreshing
Lemonade for the sole
Lapping at heat-dried ankles
A fizzy soda pop ocean
Crackling round shells and pebbles
The kids bring me dozens
Scallops, clams, fossils
Piling treasure around me
I’m a dragon with my hoard
Hot and happy
Slightly steaming
Hungry, but not ready to leave
The beautiful, brilliant beach.
NaPoWriMo Day 12: Strawberry Water
Strawberry agua,
She says,
So proud to have learnt
That snippet of Spanish
Grinning at me, at the host,
At the big glass dispenser
Packed with glossy red fruit
Chilled water
Little paper cups
Take as much as you want.
Sí, agua de fresa
I agree
Not correcting
Praising
Expanding.
Strawberry agua
She insists
And if everyone knows what she means,
Or if one person does
Or none, but she’s happy…
Why not?
NaPoWriMo Day 11: Flying Without Moving
We took the plane to Benalmádena with the kids
Determined to get to the sun
Before it got to us
Manchester to Malaga
Flying without moving
Seated in the centre
Of my home and heart
Two either side
Playing on phones
Sleeping
Eating
Gazing at clouds
Watching the sunset
Above the cumulating cumulus
I’m motionless,
Loved in the rays of the dipping star
Flying without moving.
NaPoWriMo Day 10: The Curlew, She Calls Me
Nothing moves me more than their call
Whooping joyfully over the tents
Winding up over and over
A perpetual toy helicopter
Always on the verge of either
Taking off or landing
The beating wings so fierce
So fast
Then soaring effortlessly
While their ghost cries fill the
Grey afternoon.
Then comes the night
Oyster catchers fly purposefully north east
Heading for the coast
Chasing the low tide
Yet the curlew still roams
Perhaps she’s guarding her nest
Perhaps she’s talking to a neighbour
Perhaps she’s just out doing bird errands
Humans can’t fathom.
The curlew swoops, night-cloaked and haunting
Joyfully spiralling upward in tone
Calling me to linger
Calling me to wonder
Calling me to see.
NaPoWriMo Day 9: Egg Hunt
Time to get cracking
Climb out of sleep bagging
Put down all the packing
And get on the hunt!
The Easter Bun’s been
And we’ve already seen
A gold-blue silver sheen
Glinting out of the grass.
Little hands take the lead
Running hard through the weeds
While the grownups sip mead
And the treasures amass.
Pile of eggs, rabbits, sweets
Unexpected neat treats
Backed by hypersonic squeaks
Mama’s ears take the brunt!
Silence falls on the field
That was kind enough to yield
Chocolate treasure that reeled
Our little kids’ minds.
We’re in awe as they tuck
Into chocolate, drunk
From the pleasure they took
From their Easter Hunt finds.
NaPoWriMo Day 8: A Naming
Image copyright Mabh Savage 2023. Image ID: Green grass and bright blue sky with a few small white clouds seen through the mesh window of a tent.
We stood before the gods and named him
Parents, sponsors, family, friends, and tribe
They held him gently and firmly
Safe and loved
Rounding the circle
With bread and mead
His brother spoke loud and sweet
Melting our hearts
While we played our parts
Committing ourselves to this
Still tiny life.
A naming before the quarters
A naming before the elements
A naming before the stones, grass, and sky.
NaPoWriMo Day 7: Finding Tribe
Image copyright Mabh Savage 2023. Image ID: Trees silhouetted against a starry night sky.
We come together in the great field
Some linked by blood
Many not
But all in joy
And canvas
And love of the fire
We laugh and cry and hold each other tight
Some close calls this past winter
Yet we’re all still here
I watch the moon rise
Listen to snores
Shuffles
Whispers and giggles
I nod to Lokabrenna
Torch of Skytreader
Transformational one who reminds us
Of joy, hold onto joy…
Grateful for the home
We always have.
NaPoWriMo Day 6: Pizza
Image copyright Mabh Savage 2023. Image ID: A little girl putting olives on a pizza seen from above.
We make pizza together
Her intensity
Practically melting the cheese
Before the oven is even on
I grate, it’s great
Her words not mine
A punner like her mother
Funny already, at only five
She wants olives
What five-year-old asks for olives?
This one…
Plus an egg
To make eyes and a smile…
She already did.
Mabh Savage 