A Poem: An Image

Image© Matthew Gammon

Roscommon County Council are hosting an exhibition entitled, 'A Poem: An Image', in the Civic Offices in Roscommon which will is running until Oct 20th. It comprises 16 poems written in response to 16 images, and is definitely worth visiting.

My poem, Returning, was written in response to Matthew Gammon's moving and very evocative image shown above. 

Returning

Houses are funny: boxes really, boxes of memories,

even in decay,

even though the memories are peeling.

The walls, soaked with voices, breathing out their memories

which settle, a fine dust around you.

You, who entered, no longer here;

you, who is here, transfixed in this presence of the past;

an in-between place: you and spirits

and yourself that once was;

and it all settling, a fine dust around you.