They lean. They sink down crumbling
round-shouldered. The very air
is eating them. Blithe colonies of lichen
nibble the fretted inscriptions,
but Mathias Hanrahan, whose last words
were an enquiry as to whether or if
the goose would be cooked,
Christmas Day, 1861, and Sarah Kilcoyne,
mother of fourteen, stumbling
in famishment for a canister of flour
off the neighbours, dwell among us still,
dwell – are verifiable – beloved
morsels in the mouth of race memory.
Patrick’s latest collection, The End of the World (2019), is published by Dedalus Press and available here.
Learn more about Patrick on our Contributors’ Page.
(Photo: Mike Beales/flickr.com/ CC BY 2.0)
Patrick has published seven books of poetry with Dedalus Press, including The Bones of Creation and Groundswell: New and Selected. His most recent collection, The End of the World, was shortlisted for the 2020 Farmgate Award. His works of fiction for younger readers were published by O’Brien Press, and a bestselling memoir, The Hurley Maker’s Son, appeared from Transworld in 2016. His awards include The Dermot Healy International Poetry Prize, The Eilis Dillon Book of the Year Award and The Lawrence O’Shaughnessy Award.
Latest posts by Patrick Deeley (see all)
- The Old Headstones by Patrick Deeley - May 20, 2021
- Poems by Patrick Deeley - October 15, 2020