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.

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  • Perfect order

      Picked carelessly from the hedge a stem that stood up above the rest. I twirled it round as I stood look-out for the yellow bus that carries them by so I can blow a kiss and wave Before the school day shadows them and says ,”behave.” And as I waited, listening for some bird…

  • A cardinal’s breakfast ( and there’s the robin)

      A cardinal family in a fir tree Was enjoying a damp misty morning When a visitor came, “Oh, dear, who is he?” said the Mum bird, “Do look dear, as I am just warming a nice bit of worm for the little ones, three and I can’t be disturbed when I’m making the tea.”…

  • Image courtesy of the Reader

    May day, grey day Cold day, old day of dreams Spring day, ring day of the bell to begin day. Of taking out the trash bin of shedding the snakeskin of clearing out the cupboard, standing on the diving board, of plunging into this. Poetry day, writing day, fighting day, fighting with laziness, with stress,…

  • Ferns

      The encyclopedia (let’s be honest, Wikapedia) says that ferns in some form have  existed for 200 million years but that ferns as we know them have existed for 120 million years.  Boy, what a relief.  I mean, 120 million years.  That’s OK then.  Come on,guys, even 1000 years is hard to envision as real…

  • Our tulips

          Green and pink tulip your firm stem holding up the beautiful bloom. Pink shot with green. How can the stem become a petal? “Look, look,” I say to the girl. “Yes, and look, my brother showed me how to draw a tulip.”  

  • Faberge and the wild world

              Gasping over a delicate Faberge dandelion clock of rock crystal, gold, diamonds and asbestos fibre  mimicking the fluffy down that we, as children picked and blew away into the careless world. We prepare in our museum to show and to revere the skill, the value and the beauty of this…

  • Mechanical and digital

      When I was a child heavy machinery ruled our town.  My father, my uncles, our neighbours, worked in the steel mill.  Our area was full of coal mines, iron mines, slate quarries, ports.  The world of work, the man’s world was the world of heavy industry, of machines.  On the way to Canada during…

  • For Dylan Thomas

        Well, Dylan, it’s all very well to talk about raging against the dying of the light. Rage away if you like.  Drink away if you must but we know Light must die. My experience is that raging makes the light flicker, flare up or gutter down. You were urging your father to resist,…

  • A baptism

        Today I attended the baptism of the granddaughter of a friend of mine.  It took place in st. Gabriel’s Roman Catholic in Point st. Charles.  I had been to that church a couple of times for funerals.  Many nurses in st. Mary’s Hospital where I worked grew up in ” the Point”and as…

  • Irish Dancing

      Well I have been to my first competition in Irish Dancing for children and young people.  What an interesting scene!  Many =, many people – I would say up to one thousand parents and children were all gathered together in a huge gymnasium of a local college to compete in Irish dancing.  There were…