Listowel Writers’ Week Single Poem Competition

Since Blogger is on its best behaviour, I may as well keep going with the updates. I will go the long way round with this update… ; )

While in Donegal, myself and my father went to Letterkenny to do some shopping, my mum wasn’t feeling too well and I thought I would help out by buying some odds and ends for her as she doesn’t get to the shops much….by odds and ends, I mean household stuff – continental quilt covers, pillow cases, bedside lamps, saucepans….you get the picture!

My dad is not able to walk around shops so he stayed in his car in the Disability parking spot and I brought him a newspaper to read and an ice-cream cone. I knew where I was going to get all these things so just dashed off and told my dad I wouldn’t be long.

I returned laden down but knew I had to just nip back for a few more odds and ends…I said to my dad that I would also just take a quick visit to the Internet Café to check my e-mail. He told me to fire away and off I went. On this trip I had maybe two bedside lamps, a mat and a set of saucepans with me when I popped into the Internet café…quite a sight, actually!

I saw that I had quite a lot of spam and decided to take the time to check it as opposed to just getting shot of it like I normally do…and luckily I did, as there tucked away amongst all the spam was an e-mail from Listowel Writers’ Week to say that I had won first prize in the Single Poem Competition and would I be able to make it to the award ceremony. I was struck speechless! Having so many household items with me, I couldn’t just run like a wild one to the car to tell my dad, so off I went hobbling and grinning madly, saucepans clattering against bedside lamps….but it didn’t matter. I flung them all in the boot of the car, told my dad who rose an eye from the sports column to grin madly too and off we drove home like two mad-ones….

I was really excited about it all….but it did not last long as when I got home, Vladi had telephoned to say Mr Puss was missing. The strange thing about it all is that at about the same time I was reading the e-mail about the win, Mr Puss was disappearing! I cannot help but connect both in the whole universe scheme of things – thus leaving me a little mad and bargaining with god ….with such lines as – I’ll accept the Listowel win as an administrative error if I get my Mr Puss back….needless to say it probably doesn’t work that way…..but this is part of why I’ve been slow to announce this win…crazy or what? Sure is, but to heck…was worth a shot!