As promised the sequel to the recent Irish impressions is here. In fact there are some more newly discovered notes in the treasure trove box; this may become a mini-series,-
PUBLIC BATHING
casual towel
flung over bare shoulder
he reads
the rusted instructions
at The Forty Foot Gentlemens Bathing Place°
when suddenly his companion speaks:
you're such a plonker, dad!
CLOUD SHADOWS
gliding
on the crawling sea
the gorse green and yellow
the purple heather
the ferry from Holyhead
the blue mountains of Antrim
FISHING BOATS AT HOWTH HARBOUR
Star of Nazareth
Rose of Sharon
Renegade
Waddenzee
Fragrant Cloud
PORTMARNOCK
brisk in the fresh sea breeze
blowing over the eccentric
orbit globe of limestone
that is the acorn barnacle
the confident hip-swinging
rosy-cheeked girl
takes her sunday morning walk
and the world's liveliest and friendliest dogs
happily boss each other to death all around and over the beach
AN OBSERVATION
some old golfers
having lost their balls
are wandering around the sand dunes
A FEELING
The sheeptrod leads me
through the heather and gorse
and over the flank and the rocks on a rock strewn hill
and away from all that tourist business below
and the faraway fading din of the road menders' machine working on the bend on the pass.
When I reach to the summit I share the space
with an Irish hawk that flies
above the islands and the rocks and the squalls below in the sea
and above the dolmen on the jagged limestone top
and feels at one with the force of nature
and creation and the warm sun.
°The location of the famous Bathing Place is near to the Martello Tower featured in the writings of James Joyce. These days women are also allowed to swim there.
Poet - you have such a good way with words. Where to start? That first one I like very much, mainly because the last line is such a surprise and so apt!
ReplyDeleteI love the list of fishing boats - how poetic they sound, what imagery they conjure up.
The less said about The Observation the better - very clever!
Could you bear to add your twopennorth to the comments on my
Roman legion poem of yesterday - I have had such a plethora of suggestions and am just about to start the rewrite - would love to hear what you think too.
Weaver, thanks for your kind words. Of course I'll take a look at Roman Legion.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments - I am now going to take them all to Writers Group (getting them to discuss anything is like putting something through one of those old-fashioned mangles) - don't they want to get any better???
ReplyDeleteShall finally publish on my blog the definitive version. Thought I would probably call it "A Soldier of the Ninth Legion."
I love the way the five fishing boat names manage to create a picture of a harbour.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed these - particularly Cloud Shadows, probably because I had a similar experience (at Dover, in fact) not so long ago.
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