Gift

Jean Tuomey
I give you our view,
our Sunday afternoon one
from the top of Ben Gorm.
It will last longer than a photo, 
will never fade.
Take it out of your coat pocket on rainy days,
keep it in an inner one.
 
Turn around in a full circle,
it’s all yours;
 
the steep hill we climbed, 
the flat stone where you sat, waited for me,
the sheep who called to their lambs,
the lake in the distance, tipped by the horizon,
the turf already footed by the friendly farmer,
and best of all,
the safe descent home.
Page 18, Poetry Ireland Review Issue 124
Issue 124

Poetry Ireland Review Issue 124:

Edited by Eavan Boland

Poetry Ireland Review 124 contains new poems from Paula Meehan, Ciarán O'Rourke, Lizzy Nichols, Mark Ward, Gabriel Rosenstock, Özgecan Kesici, Doireann Ní Ghríofa, and many other compelling voices. Also included is Eilean Ni Chuilleanáin's remembrance of her Cork childhood, excerpted from The Vibrant House: Irish Writing and Domestic Space, a book of essays reviewed in issue 124 by Caitríona O'Reilly. Other books considered in this issue include collections from Annemarie Ní Churreáin, Mark Granier, Tara Bergin, The Cambridge Companion to Irish Poets, and the Collected Poems of the late Dennis O'Driscoll, and there's also a short interview with Thomas Kinsella along with an essay on Kinsella as poet and civil servant. Another Kinsella is this issue’s Featured Poet, Alice Kinsella, and all artwork for the issue is supplied by artists associated with the Olivier Cornet Gallery on Great Denmark Street, around the corner from Poetry Ireland.

Available now to purchase online or in all good bookstores.