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Poem

Boreen

Michael Longley

I
Our stars on either side - herb robert, tormentil -
The reeds we walk between are lovers whispering.

II
They shelter with us behind the drystone wall,
The men who laid these grass-smothered boulders.

III
In the far field a jackass and his jennet
Safeguard the mare and her dozing foal.

IV
Butterfly-orchid ghosts, sand-martin ghosts
Where the Owenadornaun used to flow.

V
I pick a buttercup for Issa's Japanese
'Dewdrop world' to find a place in Ireland.

VI
Spring tides have left behind a dead dolphin
And jellyfish like melting paperweights.

VII
Meadowsweet, loosestrife sway along the ditch
Waiting to cross over at the end of our days.


This article was downloaded by calibre from https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v46/n06/michael-longley/boreen


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