The egret is settled
and the toddling brent goose
eyes the laden-down trestles
and oilskins and boots.
At one with the elements
he works with the tides,
through weather inclement
he's always strandside.
Wild winds and great lulls,
stinks of wet sand and seaweed,
he watches herons and gulls,
and pulls crabs from his sleeves.
The common sandpiper
sees the turning occurring,
and the oystercatcher
tests for any poor work done.
For all the weekends
and the middles of night
he's on the world's edge
for the dawning of light.
Friday, 1 June 2018
Tuesday, 1 May 2018
Two Reasons
The eighth amendment is giving me cause for concern,
I'm worried for my children when they're women in the world.
They're into Cats, the musical. For the vegetarian, our youngest,
a sausage sandwich is not unusual. She wears her lucky bracelet on her wrist.
She makes pop-up cards, and reads to me every morning.
I watch her lips mouth out the words, and her nose pull and fill the soundings.
The other works on secret projects and deftly crafts clay creature forms.
She knows all the wild bird sound effects and her default setting is ever-calm.
She takes excellent photos and wears her pyjamas late on weekends.
They spend hours on Lego, and enjoy going to the cinema with friends.
They shoot baskets, sew and knit. They often think they have invented things,
they try to feed the wild rabbits. They swim, play football, swing on swings.
They have found a number of dead shrews, and keep trinkets in their pockets,
they are experts at temporary tattoos and launching vinegar rockets.
They find themselves hilarious when they say 'portaloo' instead of 'Pórt Láirge',
they like flamingos and manatees, sloths and bobcats and sparrowhawks.
They love carousels and ferris wheels, otters, walruses and seals.
They are my two reasons to repeal.
(On May 25th, in Ireland, we will vote in a referendum to retain or repeal the Eighth Amendment of our constitution. There are many reasons to repeal. For me, my daughters are two of those reasons.)
I'm worried for my children when they're women in the world.
They're into Cats, the musical. For the vegetarian, our youngest,
a sausage sandwich is not unusual. She wears her lucky bracelet on her wrist.
She makes pop-up cards, and reads to me every morning.
I watch her lips mouth out the words, and her nose pull and fill the soundings.
The other works on secret projects and deftly crafts clay creature forms.
She knows all the wild bird sound effects and her default setting is ever-calm.
She takes excellent photos and wears her pyjamas late on weekends.
They spend hours on Lego, and enjoy going to the cinema with friends.
They shoot baskets, sew and knit. They often think they have invented things,
they try to feed the wild rabbits. They swim, play football, swing on swings.
They have found a number of dead shrews, and keep trinkets in their pockets,
they are experts at temporary tattoos and launching vinegar rockets.
They find themselves hilarious when they say 'portaloo' instead of 'Pórt Láirge',
they like flamingos and manatees, sloths and bobcats and sparrowhawks.
They love carousels and ferris wheels, otters, walruses and seals.
They are my two reasons to repeal.
(On May 25th, in Ireland, we will vote in a referendum to retain or repeal the Eighth Amendment of our constitution. There are many reasons to repeal. For me, my daughters are two of those reasons.)
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