Ravishment

Zoe Brigley Thompson
(noun) 1. rapture or ecstasy; 2. violent removal; 3. the forcible 
abduction of a woman; 4. rape.
 
If she is a well, stony in solitude,
the one who loves her is a seeker 
lowered down on a rope in the dark 
to rescue whatever creature 
or child, clutching an arm 
or a leg, might lie at bottom. 
 
* * *
 
I have written to you so many times 
about closed courtyards, the spring 
that wells up in Song of Solomon, 
the rose garden that my grandfather 
tended, where the gorgeous faces 
of flowers gazed at the smouldering
wreckage of cars. Only you know 
that the interior place I dreamed 
was a garden razed, the door split 
on its hinges and gaping, and how 
to shore up that small square space
enough to unfasten myself for you?
Page 86, Poetry Ireland Review Issue 120
Issue 120

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.