Hidden
– after CP Cavafy
From all I did and all I said,
don’t hope to learn who once I was.
There were restrictions which affected
how I lived and how I behaved.
There were restrictions which forbade
speaking the way I wanted to.
My most intimate obsessions,
and my most private writings –
only these can reveal my self.
But maybe, learning about me
isn’t worth such effort, such thought.
One day – in a world more perfect –
another similar to me
will appear, and he will be free.
Poetry Ireland Review Issue 120:
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.