Hataí

Louis de Paor

Hold on to me and we’ll both drown

– John Berryman

ar thugais fé ndeara

gléas a gcuid gruaige,

leicne is ingní daite,

súile lasta

ar aon dath is gearradh

leis na héadaí nua geala,

áthas ag sileadh leo

ó rinn go sáil:

na mná meánaosta

atá ar tí a leanaí

is a bhfearaibh

a fhágaint

iata suas

i mbarr an tí

mar a bhfuaireadar

pé ní a bhí uathu

ar feadh na mblian

ná raibh a fhios acu féin

cad é nó go bhfuaireadar é?

níor thug, arsa tú

go tur, ag imeacht

an doras amach

cumhracht uait

a chuirfeadh

adharc ar nóinín,

hata vintage anuas

ar leathshúil ghlas

a bhfuil doimhneas

na mara fós inti:

fothraigh bád

is fear, mná

ag gol gan stop,

buachaill amháin

ag dul faoi

arís is arís eile

ded bhuíochas:

ba dhóbair dó

bá ionat tráth

Poetry Ireland Review Issue 120:

Edited by Vona Groarke

Vona Groarke's final issue as editor is packed with new poems from leading contemporary poets, including Simon Armitage, Sinéad Morrissey, Colette Bryce, Paul Muldoon, Sean O'Brien and Caitríona O'Reilly. Books reviewed include new work from Derek Mahon, Bernard O'Donoghue, Rita Ann Higgins, Martina Evans, Denise Riley and the 2016 Forward Prize winner Vahni Capildeo. The centrepiece of the issue is an interview with Paul Muldoon in which the Armagh maestro shares his thoughts on subjects as diverse as public surveillance, the economic down-turn, and the exclamation mark. The cover image is by photographer Justyna Kielbowicz, and the issue also contains award-winning artwork from Sven Sandberg, Aoife Dunne, Jane Rainey, and Michelle Hall. Instead of an editorial, Vona herself answers the questionnaire she put to the contributors of Poetry Ireland Review Issue 118: The Rising Generation.