Diviners
A child, I followed him around the field,
held a wish-bone between my fingers.
And when he paused and felt the strain,
I watched his strong wrists twitch.
I saw the fresh green hazel twig
upend between his hands –
helpless against the surge
that convulsed from streams below.
His eyes tightened; I tightened
my eyes too and willed my wish-bone
give a sign that this gift would pass
from his warm hands to mine.
Breda’s poetry collection Reshaping the Light was published by Chaffinch Press and is available here.
Learn more about Breda on our Contributors’ Page.
(Photo: General Views/flickr.com/ CC BY 2.0)
Breda Joyce grew up in Headford, Co. Galway and taught at second-level in Kenya, Clifden and in Cahir, Co. Tipperary. On retiring from teaching, Breda studied creative writing in UCC where she won her first poetry prize and graduated with an MA in 2020. Her work has been twice shortlisted for the Anthony Cronin and the Over the Edge Awards. She has been shortlisted for the Fish Lockdown prize 2020, the Desmond O’ Grady award 2021, Best of the Net 2021, the Francis Ledwidge prize 2021, 2022 and Allingham 2022. Her short collections have been highly commended in the Fool for Poetry Chapbook competition 2019 and 2020. Her poetry appears in various publications, anthologies and literary journals, including Poems for Pandemia and The Best New British and Irish Poets Anthology 2019-2021, and in The Irish Times, and she has broadcast on Sunday Miscellany. Apart from writing Breda enjoys Irish folklore, sea-swimming and hiking in the hills near her home. Reshaping the Light published by Chaffinch Press 2021 is her first poetry collection.
Latest posts by Breda Joyce (see all)
- Diviners by Breda Joyce - March 30, 2023