isobelmtl

Writing under a Montreal sky

Recent Blog Posts

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: Uncategorized

  • Oy vey ,…mistake in the sonnet

    OK apologies to Shakespeare. It’s 14 lines not 12 and it should be three quatrains and a couplet. So sue me! I’ll do better next time. Maybe this is a new form? The Cunninghamian sonnet!

  • Shakespearean sonnet on climate change

      The sky is clear. No clouds appear, and yet We call for heat and burning sun aloft. As though a winter harsh and cold is debt That gives us rights to summer breezes soft. What makes us sure that summer must be hot? That we can swim or play upon the sand? What is…

  • Sleeping in the Cabin

    This is what I see through the cabin window. At night, of course, it is totally black. The cabin is not insulated so that when it gets chilly at night I am very glad of the baseboard heater. Last night here beside the lake I am told by my iPad that it dipped to 5…

  • White moth, dark moth

    White moth, dark moth, mottled grey, feathered moths Why do you approach us, with our houses, our boats, clinging to the edge of the lake? Our cabins, our railings, and beach chairs. Oh, white moth and dark moth, how have you strayed here? Away from cool moss, from pine seedlings Away from mushrooms, yellow or…

  • Zakouski

    To to be invited to zakouski is quite a privilege.  Zakouski is often translated as hors d’ouevres but there is a different connotation to the word.  It really means “a bite after “. After what?  Well, after vodka, of course.  Ah, here is ice cold Absolut but also some strange combinations that I had never…

  • Flowers, their names and ours

        Why is it that only women have flower names?  Why don’t we name people after trees?  Maple or Oak would be wonderful names, I think.  Well, we do have Willow, although not very often.  So many flower names for girls, Lily and Rose and Violet but not Tulip.  Why on earth not, I…

  • Thinking about eggs

              I was looking at books on a friend’s bookshelf ( there few things as enjoyable, I think) and there was a book of Russian fairy stories.  It opened to this page and I thought what a strange coincidence it was that I should have been reading about Faberge eggs and…

  • Birth of a cloud

    The first time I saw a cloud born it rose up out of a deep narrow valley. It was Springtime in a hot dry country that would soon consume the moisture of its small rare forests. It was a cool evening during Easter week and I was out walking with someone whose name is now…

  • Country mouse and City mouse

      No logical argument can change me from a person who fears mice into a person who can tolerate them.  In the city an errant shadow on the floor of my basement once had me racing upstairs, reaching for my car keys and cel phone.  The instantly hatched plan was to go sleep at a…

  • Looking through the Lens

        There was was a beautiful sunset last night.  In the afternoon a thunderstorm sent welcome rain.  No watering of flowers or hopeful vegetables was needed that evening.  There were still clouds making their way en masse behind the low hill on the other side of the lake late in the afternoon.  This is…