Sirens
Past midnight, the bracken scratches
its thin wrists. The sun too is restless
this far north; always a pink wick of light.
By the path, a circle of wild lupins hold
their upright spears, waiting for news.
I can imagine how they toll their blue bells,
hailing, luminous, and I bend to them,
listening at their hundred open mouths
so that for a while I fall under their spell,
sense my body swaying as if the waters
are being lifted in my ear. And so,
for a while only, I let myself stand
as one of these heavy flowers, collecting
the dark on my tongue; breathing in
and out; being moved, moving.
Poetry Ireland Review Issue 119:
Poetry Ireland Review Issue 119 includes new poems by 48 poets including Frank Ormsby, John Kinsella, Rachel Coventry, Aifric Mac Aodha, Gerald Dawe, Alice Miller and Claire Potter. Also included are translations by Richard Begbie and Kirsten Lodge, an essay on Bishop, Lowell, Heaney and Grennan by David McLoghlin, and reviews of Paul Muldoon, Paul Durcan, Sarah Clancy, Medbh McGuckian, Kate Tempest, George the Poet, and many more. The issue also features photography by Hugh O'Conor, Dominic Turner, Sheila McSweeney, Fergus Bourke and John Minihan.