I TURN A LARGE MOSSY STONE IN AN OLD ABANDONED DRAIN A THOUSAND ANTS LIKE HEADLESS CHICKENS TUMBLE OVER EACH OTHER DARTING IN ALL DIRECTIONS TO ESCAPE THE LIGHT IS THEIR ENEMY THE DARK IS THEIR FRIEND      

  It is the evening of another day I walk along the canal Swans in a love call Two ducks taking off Leaving a multitude of whirlpools behind And I battered and bruised Bogged down by memos and deadlines In an efficiency of the now I walked to the sound of crow Half hidden in… Continue reading It is the evening of another day

AT MY COUSIN'S TWENTY-FIRST I INTRODUCED AUNT JENNY TO MICHAEL THE CAPTAIN OF THE LEINSTER SOCCER TEAM SHE REFUSED TO SHAKE HIS HAND I AM AN IRISH REPUBLICAN AND SHOUTED I WOULD NEVER SHARE A ROOM WITH A SOCCER PLAYER THE GAME THE TOMMIES BROUGHT IN SHE ROARED ONE OF US WILL HAVE TO GO… Continue reading THE SOCCOR PLAYER

I PICKED A MAGGOT FROM THE PATH IT WRIGGLED

For onceThen always,A thought A word saidLodgedForever.

I walk familiar ways There is nothing but crows everywhere Dimming the light Squawking terror A multitude on a rampage Nothing is beautiful But I found a flower in the Abbey graveyard.

When I was a boy I worked in the nun's field Sowing potatoes One day The church bell rang  twice It stopped and rang twice again And again the bell stopped and rang again One ring for a man, two rings for a woman Pat King said Miss Dowling had died We stopped our work… Continue reading DEATH IN NAAS