Stone Circle

Eight heads: bald, lichen-stained,
eyes closed, always listening.

One jowl-cheeked, one stub-nosed,
one with an empty eye-socket,
two with ears inclined to the earth,
another with a nasty bump,
one wearing a green skull cap,
the last, his mouth o, standing outside the circle;

all speaking in a pitch
below the range of human audibility.

The Gloaming

Gloaming: that part of the day, after the sun has gone down, and before the light finally leaves the sky.

I am in the passenger seat, travelling the road from Enniskillen to Belleek, along the north shore of Lough Erne. It is in the gloaming. The sparsely lit landscape is dotted with deciduous trees standing dark and proud against the chill January sky. The sky is a dreamscape of washed out blues, greys, pinks and dons; colours on the wane. Here and there that same sky is lapping right up to the edges of the road.

By complete coincidence, I am hearing for the first time ‘The Gloaming’, the new album from the band of that name. It is as though the music was written from this very seat; it catches the mood and atmosphere of what I am seeing perfectly. Haunting, enchanting, Irish with twists, spare in parts, sometimes ECM like,  experimental; it is a marvellous fusion. Bearing in mind the personnel in the band, maybe that’s not surprising: The Gloaming is Thomas Bartlett, Dennis Cahill, Martin Hayes, Iarla Ó Lionaird, Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh.

For a bit more on The Gloaming check out http://www.hotpress.com/hotfor2013/thegloaming.html 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBkeDCCcPww

How well do you know the art of poetry?

Here's a challenge. Assonance, similes, metaphors, idioms....................................., take  a few minutes to try this quiz, it's a bit of fun.
And let me know how you've done.  http://www.quia.com/quiz/741084.html

4 minutes in space

The earth; and you with eyes receiving it, and mind capable of accommodating it.   Enlarge the picture, turn up the music and lose yourself in space for just 4  min's.

Deep Blue Day is a track from Brian Eno’s 1983 album Apollo: Atmospheres and Soundtracks which was made for a movie called Apollo. The film was later re- issued with a narration and other changes under the title For All Mankind. The video shown here features Nasa footage to Eno’s music, and is available from TheEnergyWarning channel on YouTube.

The excerpt below is from For All Mankind.

     

The Stages of Life

Have you ever looked from a harbour, or back to a harbour, at someone you love becoming smaller as a ferry leaves; slipping from clear, close-up definition, into tininess, into a dot, gone.

Caspar David Friedrich’s allegorical painting ‘The Stages of Life’ captures just that poignancy as an old man looks out, past a family, at five ships sailing on the sea of life, finally disappearing into the hazy distance of the horizon.

There is something in that forlorn rocky shore, in  the way the huge sky dwarfs the family grouping, the chill colours of evening, the exaggerated height of the sails of the ships disappearing into the distance, in that boat upturned to look like the rocks. The ships still large in the distance, as humans are to themselves all through life, are disappearing as though they don’t quite realise it themselves. 

Calling for Writers in Commemoration of John Berryman

In 2012 Dr Philip Coleman organised an all-day reading of Milton’s Paradise Lost, which featured among many others, Nobel Prize winner, Seamus Heaney. This year, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Minnesota, he is organizing a full public reading of John Berryman’s The Dream Songs, to be held in Dublin in early October. 2014 is the 100th anniversary of John Berryman's birth.
 

Coleman,  a staff-member of the School of English, Trinity College, Dublin (who has a book on John Berryman coming out later this year) writes:
 

“ I am trying to get as many contemporary poets as possible -- 77 being the ideal number -- to write a Dream Song in honour of Berryman. While my ultimate aim would be to gather the Songs together in book form I would like to have a dozen or so ready for possible publication in ‘Poetry Ireland Review’ in its Autumn 2014 issue……….……. I would like to receive the poems by the end of March 2014.”
 

If you have a mind to penning a Dream Song for this project, Dr Coleman can be contacted at  < philip.coleman@tcd.ie>.

Flaws in Democracy

I've been thinking over the flaws in democracy; these points apply to different extents in different countries. 

·         The choice open to us at elections does not span the range of political opinion.

·         There is no genuine debate on what is best for citizens as adherents to a particular party frequently have no wish to engage with opposing views.

·         Debate among political parties tends to concern itself with providing opposition rather than being in any way constructive.

·         Mass media is used to indoctrinate or win over electors with sound-bytes rather than considered argument. Similarly recruiting celebrities to support a party is  barely more  than an exercise in cajoling the electorate.

 

·         The public have limited say in the externally imposed conditions, and international powers that national governments must satisfy or oblige.

·         Powerful advisors are faceless to the general public and we are not made aware of the activities of lobbyists.

·         We elect parties on the basis of promises and policies that are blatantly reneged on after the election.

·         We are frequently fed spurious facts and data, or we are given spin, or treated to barely disguised obfuscation.

·         Governments frequently overrule the popular opinion of the people.

·         Leaders frequently refuse to accept responsibility for mistakes, and almost never apologize.

·         Loyalty to the party generally outweighs loyalty to the people. The party whip system frequently prevents a member from following his/her own principles.

·         We are asked to vote simply yes or no on treaties which often have multiple strands, each of which deserves separate consideration.

    ·         Governments find expedient ways of flouting their own laws.

·         The system does not appear to be conducive to female representation.

·         Money spent  is often the crucial determinant in winning minds.

 

 

Wyeth: Magic and Poetry

Tell All The Truth

 

Tell all the truth but tell it slant,

Success in circuit lies,

Too bright for our infirm delight

The truth's superb surprise;  

As lightning to the children eased

With explanation kind,

The truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind.

 

 

Real beauty in eight lines by Emily Dickinson, and a message to all would-be poets.  And, as in poetry in art. Andrew Wyeth’s famous painting ‘Christina’s World’ has, perhaps, been reproduced once too often, but it has what makes the magic: a suggestion or more, and the space for the viewer to go in search of it.

Similarly, Snow Hill, in which subjects from a lifetime’s painting dance around a maypole on a page-white landscape; the landscape Wyeth lived and painted in. But is this a gently tongue in cheek retrospective of his paintings, a magical counterpoint of a May scene in deep winter, or a poignant reflection on the lives he shared and painted over the course of his life? 

 

Give Me

Give me
Gucci or Prada,
Louis Vuitton,
Chanel.

Give me
Cartier or Rolex;
Because
Because I’m worth it.

Audio Piece on The Roscommon Anthology

Conor Reynolds' audio piece features  excerpts from interviews with kevin Hora, John Waters and myself. Also included is a reading by one of Ireland's finest poets, Patrick Chapman, and singer Noel O'Grady, both recorded at the Dublin launching of The Roscommon Anthology on Thursday 28th November 2013 in the Uppercross House Hotel, Rathmines.

 

Growth

A dot: curious, stirring. 

A fleck: moving, creating. 

A fly: forming, inflating.          

A rock: swelling, building.          

A truck: bulging, looming, 

             

             bullying,

            

                            roaring

                                          You.

 

A Shannon Memory

Revisiting Lough Ree    

Morning comes colourless;

trees stoop to the lake like pilgrims

witnessing images that are riddles in the water.

 

A sudden shriek. “Over here, no here, over here."

I see nothing; the lake keeps its children chilled

in ice buckets among the reeds. 

Once I trailed a ripple from a boat

that bevelled this water. I remember the oars'

loud soft thud, slap till I die.  

It was June. Insects teemed on the  surface.

The sun, that tanned our backs, lulled the countryside

into sleep before the fields were even cranked.

 

My father was there. 

Now December. The lake drags its cutlery

through this cress-green landscape

with an indifference that leaves memories shivering.

 

 

Roscommon Anthology Comes Home

This Friday The Roscommon Anthology comes to Roscommon on the final leg of its tour; 6.30pm in the Bank of Ireland. Brian Leyden will launch the book with support from Seamus Hosey, Seamus Dooley and others.
Vincent Woods featured the anthology on his Arts Tonight show tonight; the excerpt includes brief interviews with Leyden, John Waters, John O'Dea and myself reading The After-Mass Men, (Sabne, I don't have a reading on YouTube, will get to it sooner or later) Here's a link to the programme; the Roscommon Anthology section begins 25mins in. 

http://www.rte.ie/radio/utils/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=9%3A10227286%3A0%3A%3A

The Roscommon Anthology is in the Shops

The Roscommon Anthology was launched on Thursday night by Vincent Woods in the majestic King House, Boyle. A great night, with readings by featured writers: Jane Clarke, Mary Turley McGrath, Brian Leyden, John Waters, Gerry Boland and myself; Elaine O’Dea read a Margaret Cousins’ piece, and singer, Cathy Jordan, gave the most beautiful renderings of Percy French songs. We are indebted to County Roscommon Library Services for hosting the event.

The reaction to the book was fantastic. The artworks by Roscommon-associated artists really lifts the publication, the accompanying literary map is a work of art, the biographies add an extra level of interest to the content.

The celebrations now move to Dublin. Radio producer, writer, Seamus Hosey, will launch the anthology in the Uppercross House Hotel, Upper Rathmines Road this coming Thursday, Nov 28^th, at 6.30pm. There will be readings by some of the anthology writers, including Patrick Chapman, Kevin Hora, Kieran Furey and myself. A special treat on the night will be an appearance by Noel O’Grady. We are very grateful to Roscommon Association Dublin for sponsoring the Dublin launch.

The book is now available in selected shops including, in Dublin, Alan Hanna’s, Books Upstairs, The Winding Stair and Connolly Books. Distribution will become wider, check http://www.theroscommonanthology.com/ for outlets countrywide or order directly from the website.

Here’s the wonderful Noel Grady performing.

The Missing Guinness Ad

Back in Feb 2012, I was bemoaning the fact that I couldn't find a particular Guinness ad that I used to see in the cinema back in the eighties. I spent hours trying to find it. There was Joe McKinney dancing while the pint settled, there was the pub clock ticking as the rowers transported a barrel of Guinness over Galway Bay, Louis Armstrong telling us "there is all the time in the world", and the white horses galloping in the waves. When I keyed in surf that's the one I got, but I was looking for a Hawaiian beach circa 1980. I was looking for the quintessential summer experience: sea and sand, sexy girls and sun, glorious heat and azure seas. And surfing. Surfing was still a rarity in Ireland back then;  the ad was a two-minute dream vacation. And the music! I had the ghost of that guitar still playing somewhere in my head and I had a longing to hear it again; for the sun and the bright light and blue rolling ocean and, I suppose, two minutes from my youth.