An Interruption of Swans, St Brigid’s Day

Carefully scraping the thick foam of meringue into a bowl to be gently folded with the sweet batter of butter, eggs, sugar I am startled by the urgency of wings swans the sky blue behind their white.

Lavender and rosemary cake for St Brigid's Day, Bríd of poets, babies, fugitives and travellers –all welcome to share seeds, herbs, this abundance.

We are welcoming spring a scrap of colour fluttering in winter’s sharp breeze, embracing a new year with cake.

The swans move from canal to river crossing the city fierce and graceful, nesting in rushes.

They never look down –Dublin’s rust-red bricks below and me in my back garden arms outstretched, white sheets billowing, ready for spring.

Lynn Caldwell