Sky Words

Poetry first moved me as an eleven-year-old in school when a nun recited ‘I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud’. Eyes sparkling, her palms dancing, Sister Assumpta seemed to grow taller for certain stanzas. Her performance was made all the more entertaining whenever miniature comets of spit shot out from the gap between her two front teeth. My friend Siobhán and I would glance at each other, then erupt into giggles. We were never scolded.

Most of the time, I listened to the teacher intently, thrilled to be in the presence of a true artist. I remember how, a few days after electrifying the room with poetry, she asked if we were familiar with the dawn chorus. Thirty-five blank faces stared back.

“Birds. Singing at daybreak,” our guide prompted. “Raise your hand… Anybody?”

Then Sister Assumpta launched into a brief monologue to expound on the beauty of birdsong. For part-two of our lesson, she sketched out a huge uterus to explain the role of sex in reproduction, waving a piece of chalk around as an orchestra conductor would their baton.

Today, I relish listening to a solitary bird at dawn. The chittering begins just as pink trails of light appear in the indigo sky. Daybreak. Soon, I hear a warble, then another – squeaky notes and rough caws. It seems that hundreds of voices join in until the whole world becomes a soundscape, and the sound is in me, and the birds are the sky, and we’re all pure sunshine. Nothing is separate, and I breathe it in deeply as the waves rumble their bass notes in the distance.

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Sky Words was published on page 97 of the Rewind anthology in 2025.

School past and present

Sister Assumpta provided me with a positive learning experience in the 1980s. I also remember the impact of Sister Margaret, who used to assault me and my classmates across the knuckles with a drumstick. Who knows why she felt so threatened by the chatter of eight year olds?

Everyone has memories of the best and worst school days. Thankfully, most centres of learning are very different today. The days of assaulting children are over, and many teachers strive to inspire.

Short stories from me, plus nonfiction and poems

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Further reading

School changes: Key Changes in Ireland’s Education System for 2025.