Sandra Harris Writes

HEATWAVE 2013 OR, THE SHINING PART TWO, WITH APOLOGIES TO STEPHEN KING... A POEM BY SANDRA HARRIS. © The sun came to stay for a while in July 2013, Bringing with him an alarming mountain of luggage, Enough for several weeks, surely...? We weren't expecting him and so we weren't as prepared As we might otherwise have been. There was a bit of a rush to clear out the spare room, To air the sheets and towels and stick fresh flowers in the vase on the night-stand To make the place a bit welcoming. “What would you like to do today, then?” we asked him on his first full day. He shrugged. “I think I'll just shine for a bit,” he said. He was as good as his word.  He shone every day for three whole weeks. “Are you sure you wouldn't like to do something different for a change?” we'd ask him Every morning. “Drive down to Glendalough, maybe, or over to see the Cliffs Of Moher? They're meant to be lovely, they are, at this time of the year...?” ...

WE’RE HAVING A HEATWAVE… BY SANDRA HARRIS. © I know I’m going to come across as grumpy and ungrateful now but I’m really not enjoying this heatwave. Ah, don’t be such an auld buzzkill, you might say. Surely be to God you’re happy for the first daycent (Oirish pronunciation) bit of sunshine we’ve had all year, you might say. Surely you don’t begrudge people a bit of relief from the unrelenting misery that’s been 2026 so far, with constant wars, spiralling grocery and electricity prices and the general breakdown of society that seemed to start with bloody COVID and will surely end with an apocalyptic style flood/earthquake/tsunami that sets us back about a bazillion years and forces us all into a hard reset for mankind, you might say. Well, of course I don’t begrudge people a bit of relief from the unrelenting misery that’s been 2026 so far, etc., etc. I know kids have been having a ball with their paddling pools, ice-creams and spontaneous, unscheduled trips to the beach instead...