The Irish Airman Parachutes to Earth
For wisdom is the property of the dead,
A something incompatible with life; and power,
Like everything that has the stain of blood,
A property of the living…
– from ‘Blood and the Moon’, WB Yeats
I know that I shall meet my fate
somewhere near the ground.
Perhaps the basement where
I sleep now. I can’t see
the moon there except in June
when it rides so low I put
my two rough gardening hands
on the window frame, peering
out to the left where it appears
between two buildings and I can’t
decide if it’s flashing a signal
or trying to hide.
The cats circle me, in courtly fashion
leaping in and out through
the green curtains onto the sill,
specially softened for them
with pink and grey Mexican blankets.
Their pupils fill with black to allow
more light while the roses glow white
over the crepuscular giant shadows
of the castor oil plant.
I don’t think the cats look at the moon.
I think they just happen to glance
in that general direction.
All they want is to be told –
like my father told his cats
with his rough hand,
the light touch of his crooked fingers on their fur –
that they are not alone,
that they are important,
as for being wise,
it’s hard to be sure.
Even cats are surprised into falling,
fooled by shadows
blindsided.
Poetry Ireland Review Issue 116:
A WB Yeats Special Issue
This essential Yeats anniversary publication is edited by Vona Groarke and includes responses to Yeats’s legacy and readings of his poems from public figures as diverse as Bill Whelan, Neil Jordan, Colm Tóibín, Frank McGuinness, Mary Costello and John Banville, along with new poems responding to Yeats’s work by Irish and international poets such as Margaret Atwood, Sharon Olds, Philip Schultz, Sinéad Morrissey and Harry Clifton. The issue also includes Yeats’s poetry collections, reviewed by leading poets as if just published. Now also available in hardback.
"superb special edition" John Boland, Irish Independent
» Subscribe now to ensure you receive a copy
» Order a paperback now
» Order the hardback now