WOWO Thursday, 1 May 2025, 7-9pm

It’s the last Thursday of the month, the traditional date for our Mug of the Month Competition. Five contestants with texts including the words SPARK and TANGLE will be vying to become the latest Mug champion. Good luck to all entrants!

The closing date for the next Mug of the Month Competition is earlier than usual: 10 May. The new key words are RING and SHOW. Entries as usual to annemurraypost@yahoo.ie.

Lightning by James Conway is a fierce and vivid poem capturing the primal drama of a storm at sea. With imagery that crackles and churns, Conway evokes a world caught between chaos and calm – where boatmen hover in suspense, waves obey unseen forces, and lightning reveals the storm’s hidden intent. Nature becomes both a stage and a warning, as we sense the hush before fury finds its voice.

The Journey I Cannot Name by Mary Hawkshaw invites us on an interior journey that slips ‘between words, like mist through memory’. It charts moments rather than miles as she explores identity, inheritance and the porous border between an ageing mind and boundless imagination – a quest that starts in quiet uncertainty and blossoms into a vast, dream-like ‘mansion’ of insight, leaving us before an open doorway where wonder eclipses fear.

Reaching for the Moon and Stars by Anne Murray paints a celestial lullaby for newborn Luna and her shining sister Stella, as sun-kissed parents Dave and Jill reach past daylight’s warmth toward a sky where hope ‘soared on silent wings’. With tender images of moonbeam eyes and a family’s growing galaxy, Anne weaves a dream-bright hymn that celebrates love expanding beyond the night – a poem now set to music, ready to light up tonight’s double presentation.

Easter 2025 by Thomas McMahon blends zesty lemon crepes, palm-ash devotion and the bright song of a yellow finch into a light-hearted hymn to renewal. Thomas layers fluffy chicks, woolly lambs and cheeky chocolate ‘surgery’ with prayers for loved ones and golden daffodils – a joyful nod to the feast that follows Lent, inviting everyone to praise the Lord and, above all, ‘smile’.

Life with a Spark by Anne Murray celebrates half a century beside a quick-witted electrician whose bright hands power everything from appliances to family life. Anne charts laughter, setbacks and seven lively ‘sprongs’ as the couple move to their own rhythm – an affectionate portrait glowing with humour and hard-won resilience.

Pertinent Nest by James Conway is a lyrical meditation on joy, music, and the quiet power of nature. As a blackbird sings at dawn, its song captivates the world around it – free from structure, rich in emotion. Conway’s imagery transforms the street into a stage, the trees into listeners, and the morning into a moment of rebirth. This is poetry as celebration: tender, hopeful, and tuned to the rhythms of spring.

A Memorable Night by Josephine McCann tracks a frazzled letting agent who secures a rare evening of silk sheets, chilled champagne and solitary bliss. But a chance meeting with the magnetic Marco plants a flicker of unease that shadows her much-anticipated ‘night of self-pampering’, as Josephine entwines sensual detail with gathering tension – blurring comfort and peril in a tale where dream and danger might share the same key.

Oui, Oui by Deirdre Anne Gialamas sweeps us onto the Champs Élysées with a newly qualified nurse whose London credentials hardly prepare her for the perfumes, protocols and pitfalls of 1979 Paris. Deirdre drifts from chic daydreams to daunting duties –babysitting a champagne-loving socialite, dodging a rogue agency, and strugggling to order a simple baguette – in a witty, self-deprecating memoir that captures the sparkle and grit of saying ‘oui’ to adventure in the City of Light.

Once more, we can look forward to a memorable evening of scintillating texts from our creative and talented members!

Programme:

Competition Mug of the Month Five Entries

Poem The Journey I Cannot Name Mary Hawkshaw

Poem Lightening James Conway

Poem Pertinent Nest James Conway

Poem Life with a Spark Anne Murray

Poem Easter 2025 Thomas McMahon

Song Reaching for the Moon and Stars Anne Murray

Short Story A Memorable Night Josephine McCann

Short Story Oui, Oui Deirdre Anne Gialamas