isobelmtl

Writing under a Montreal sky

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about

Isobel Cunningham has published short fiction and poetry. Her book, Northern Compass is available on Amazon. She was born in Wales but Montreal is her adopted home. She speaks French, Modern Greek ( it’s a fun story) and a little Spanish…oh, English too, of course. She welcomes comments on her blog and looks forward to chatting with you over cyber-space.

Category: Blogging 101

  • Spring, this is who I am

     I don’t match. My colors are all wrong. I’m the chaos you love to embrace. I’m moody, tearful. I explode with joy and temper. You long for me but I elude you. Just when you think you’ve tamed me My bossy sister, summer comes barging in. Can’t stand her…..I’m outta here!

  • Covid 19 wind 

    Clothes blowing on the line for the first time this enclosed Spring. Pink t-shirt reaches out arms to clasp close a child, a friend, chin on the other’s warm shoulder – a long embrace. But not today. Cold wind breezes through the arms, the body that cannot meet another. At the track where I walk…

  • Poetry on Track

    A project to walk the Camino de Santiago de Compostella in Spain this spring has been shelved because of the Corona virus. I had trained all winter because, after all, when granny makes up her mind to walk 800 kms, she had better be in shape. I lost 10 pounds and found I fell into…

  • Social Isolation

    Here are a couple of pictures from around my neighborhood. I took my solitary walk today and noticed in the window of an upper duplex, children’s drawings telling me to take care of myself. I don’t really want to take care of myself. I want someone else to take care of me. Now that is…

  • Corona isolation

    On the last day before I self-isolated I took this picture. It seemed to me a metaphor of what was happening to me. Even the phrase “happening to me” is one that is a little unfamiliar. I have been privileged to live in circumstances where a lot of the time I “”happend “to life. I…

  • Feast of the Three Kings

    Yes, I’m a day late. The kings were late too, right. This image is taken from the stunning collection of nativity scenes from all over the world that is housed in St. Joseph’s Oratory here in Montreal. I know, the picture is not stunning but – be proud of me – it’s the first picture…

  • The Red Glove

        Something was skittering along ahead of Maddy as she made her way gingerly across the grey parking lot of the shopping center.  Grey sky, heavy with snow, grey boots, alternately striding or shuffling cautiously over the plaques of black ice conjured up by the bitter wind. ‘First Christmas alone.   Bob ‘s gone. No,…

  • End of a drought

    Nothing has escaped the pen, the keyboard, the soft yielding lead of the pencil for a long time. It has been about three months since I was able to write anything. No sitting at the table before a blank paper, no jotting things down, no type and backspace – just a horror of writing anything…

  • Dem Bones, dem bones…Osteopathy

      I’ve been wanting to write about my visits to the College of Osteopathy Studies here in Montreal for some time. Some family members urged me to go and have someone look at my knee about two years ago. To my surprise, some gentle manipulations made me feel a lot better. Since then I have…

  • Mummies come to Montreal

      Mummies come to Montreal What is the fascination with mummies? Ancient Egypt is right up there with dinosaurs in kids’ obsessions. The difference is that almost all adults retain that awe-struck wonder about this beautiful and mysterious civilization. Our imaginations have been captured by countless books and movies on the lives and death rituals…