Chris Murray is a City and Guilds Stone-cutter. Her poetry is published in Ropes Magazine, Crannóg Magazine, The Burning Bush Online Revival Meeting (Issue 1), Carty’s Poetry Journal, Caper Literary Journal , CanCan The Southword Journal (MLC) and the Diversity Blog (PIWWC; PEN International Women Writer’s Committee). Her poem for three voices, Lament, was performed at the Béal festival in 2012. She has reviewed poetry for Post (Mater dei Institute),Poetry Ireland and Writing.ie. Chris writes a poetry blog  called Poethead which is dedicated to the writing, editing and translation of women writers. She is a member of the International PEN Women Writer’s Committee, and the Social Media coordinator and Web-developer for Irish PEN.

Westwardly

The beam pools and splits
Mapping the summit of

The not-circling mountains
Ranging white-grey-black

Bird looses the branch
Mapping a departing swirl as

Black glass eddies
-vibrates his departure.

Precarious Migratory Spectacular

The stone weighting my palm
has sprung a cathedral.

My heart jumps walking in the flesh of its surpassing grace,
groin-vaulted, high as.

No bird ever escaped to soar this
high-up.
There is no blood

no feather
no bone,

stone cannot make the bird.