May Lynam, a native of Clara, County Offaly, is a member of the Mercy Sisters. Her first and only foray into poetry came in 1966, when she won two pounds and ten shillings for two poems written in Irish. These poems, intended for young children, were submitted to a competition organised by an tOireachtas as part of the Jubilee celebrations commemorating the 1916 Rising. Though she has not pursued poetry further, she has written several reflective pieces based on her experiences abroad, as well as a fantasy story. Her writing offers glimpses into both the everyday and the imaginative, shaped by a life of service and travel.
Lauds
They made no noise on the tiled floor
Their cream church cloaks flowing
They sang their prayers in one voice
And bowed while their prayers ascended.
They rose at four to start the day
And prayed for all who needed them
For those who couldn’t sleep
Or whose dreams were sore demented.
The church was silent now
When organ and singing faded
There wasn’t a sound to break the spell
Of so deep a recollection.
It was a silence that isn’t for sale
Or easily encountered
But it was a silence I would swear
That some would sell their souls for.
The Day I Met Hatred
It was a fierce experience
Akin to going to war
That had no rules or regulations
For dead it left me in the pitch
With no hope of vivification
Till every bone within me cried
With pain and desperation.
There was no enemy in sight
Just a cold close relative
Which magnified the pain and loss
By a million inflammations.
Unlike war there was no truce
Or longed-for termination
It pierced my heart with many darts
That begged for reparation.
The Disturbance of Nature
To be stopped in my tracks
By the smell of the box
Bringing me back to summers in Boher
To be further struck still
By the smell of sea weed
Bringing me back to summers in Galway
What a cause for immotion!
To be stuck to the ground
By the colours of autumn
To be fully entranced
By the sight of a mushroom
Hiding so gently in a tuft full of grasses
What a cause for delight.
To be weed-interrupted
By the sound of swans flapping
To be further non-plussed
By the sight of their flying
What a cause for stand stillness.
To be utterly transfixed
By a sky full of stars
In a Zambian village that knew no illuming
What a cause for enrapture!
To be dumbstruck like Zachary
At the sight of the ocean
By a moonlight so red
As it crossed over the water
What a cause for enchantment!
To be completely earth-struck
By the sight of cameleon
Changing his colours like a sun in its setting
What a cause for inaction!
To be taken off-guard
By the sight of two zebras
Eating the grass as if they were donkeys
What a sight to remember!
Yes, nature disturbs
With tsunamis and quakes
But it also disturbs
In most wonderful ways.
The Galway Review 