Saturday, August 15, 2020

Feichín's Response to the Women of Omey



On hungry mornings, Feichín became a cormorant,
dived deep into the Atlantic to retrieve miraculous numbers of fish.
On the rocks of Omey, he often caused commotions, standing,
arms extended, skin stretched tight over bones, naked as a newborn chick,
drying his body in the wind.
When, once, the women of Omey delegated one of their number to go to him
to chastise him for his sinful displays, which, their souls being jeopardised,
must be the devil’s work; he, upon hearing their complaint, reached up to a shelf,
took down the bones of a meal and asked,
“Do these bones offend you?”
“No”, she replied.
“Was I not more clothed than these?”
and with that he took a switch to her and sent her running from his hut.

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