Walnuts

Paul Muldoon

Bringing to mind the hemispheres of the brain in the brainpan,

these walnut halves are as ripe

for pickling now as in 860, the dye in a Viking girl’s under-dress

then being derived from walnut husks. I hear you stifle

a yawn when I note that steamed

black walnut is generally held to be inferior to kiln-dried

while the term à la mode de Caen

refers specifically to the braising of tripe

in apple cider. I who have been at the mercy of the cider-press

have also been known to trifle

with the affections of a dryad in a sacred grove,

a judge’s daughter and a between-maid to Lord Mountbatten

among others from beyond my clan.

It was only as recently as 1824 we first used the term ‘to snipe’.

Walnut was the go-to stock wood for both Brown Bess

and the Lee-Enfield bolt-action, magazine-fed, repeating rifle.

Each has seen service on the shores of Lough Erne

in the hands of both wood-kernes and followers of the First Earl.

Our own interpersonal relationships have tended to be so askew

it was only as recently as 1844 we first used the term ‘scarf’

of the neck-garter. Girding up the loins

for a family feud has often proved a more fecund

line of inquiry. Walnuts are now deemed

good against malignancies of breast and prostate – not only tried

but tried and true. From time to time you

and I have met on a windswept airfield or wharf

where we’ve seen fit to join

battle without ever having reckoned

on how the Irish law on treasure trove

would change in the light of the Derrynaflan paten

never mind King Sitric being the son-in-law of King Brian Boru

who prevailed over him at Clontarf

or, at the Boyne,

William of Orange’s putting paid to his father-in-law, James II.

It was at the Boyne, you recall, that Ahern

gave Paisley the ‘peace bowl’ turned from a local walnut-burl.

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.