Sonnet – Fairy Mischiefs

by katiedixon on July 31, 2020 with No Comments

by Áine Leddy, New York

The cows were dry again this morn

Those fairy mischiefs doing their worst

With guilt and shame I was torn

My whole clan would feel the thirst

The spancel should have been installed

Before I closed my eyes to sleep

But I had milking churns to scald

And left gap open to fairy leap

I will do better I decided

In the duel with the little man

My efforts would not be derided

No more empty milking can

So move along you little louse

No more free milk around this house

Áine based her poem on the folklore “Fairies sometimes milk cows. To prevent this tie a hair spancel in the cow gap.”

A Proverb Set Right

by katiedixon on July 31, 2020 with No Comments

by G. Slamon, Brixton, U.K.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

A wise proverb tells us of blackbird and thrush

Though if truth be told I don’t quite understand

Why two birds in the bush equal one in the hand

For a bird in the hand it will tremble and quake

And out of its terror no song will it make

While the birds in the bush they will twitter and trill

And alive with their freedom will seldom stand still

But hither and thither and upwards and down

They will flutter and flitter and frolic and clown

And light up the hedgerows and colourful songs

While the caught bird in silence and stiffness it longs

So open your hands wide and let the bird fly

And find its way back to its place in the sky

And with it your spirit will soar with delight

And rejoice in the freedom of a proverb set right

Four sure signs there’s going to be a wedding: a frog at the door, front of the dress on fire, cups with two spoons and mother cuts the sign of the cross overhead

by katiedixon on July 31, 2020 with No Comments

Sharry based her collage on a combination of four pieces of folklore:

A frog coming to the door is a sign of marriage in the family

If a girl’s apron takes fire in front it is a sign of marriage

Two spoons given in cup signify an invitation to a wedding

Some mothers cut the sign of the Cross with tongs held in left hand three times over the head and three times at the feet of a girl going out to be married