Red Squirrel presents...

James McGonigal

First things

(from The Camphill Wren, 2016)

My Granny made porridge first thing

with the same untroubled movements

of hand and eye, the same patience

that she gave to her night prayers.

It is a holy and wholesome thought

to eat porridge and pray for the dead

every day of your life, I now think,

reaching down a white bowl from its shelf.

James McGonigal has published two collections of poems with Red Squirrel Press, The Camphill Wren in 2016, and In Good Time, in 2020. He has published five earlier poetry collections, from 1990 onwards, and a range of prose works including anthologies, criticism, biography and letters. He lives, writes and gardens by the Antonine Wall north-east of Glasgow.

Red Squirrel Press is a self-funded independent press based in Scotland. It was founded in April 2006 by Sheila Wakefield and has published over 200 titles to date.

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