Wednesday, September 1, 2010

September 2010

September unfurls with quiet charm
The first palette of colours
to paint the year's end, tell the tale
of descent into Winter's cold arms.

...Protesting Autumn, calling out
- Joy and warmth and ripeness
still abide! Dance with me one
more time, before the leaves fall.

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Friday, August 6, 2010

Underneath

A man on an escalator, did something silly; and reminded me that underneath the suit can be an innocent heart


Underneath

He's suited and booted;
shined shoes
Sharp dresser
serious man.

On the down escalator
busy eyes
balding head
being in charge.

Reaches out one hand
tips the metal
makes it sing
smiles a little smile.


Geraldine Moorkens Byrne

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Friday, July 30, 2010

The Murder of Cliona

The Murder of Cliona

Cliona sits by the shore
Singing songs of love and loss
Like any underdressed lady of the sea;
passing as one of them, the myths and nymphs
Brushing hair with comb and bone
While all the time, counting waves.

The Ninth one is still hers. She yet
rides the horses of the surf
And Mannanán calls her from the west;
It would be best to return
not wait and hide and hope
for cornucopias of adoration

But she clings on still, a languid
survivor on a rock.
Connla calls by, Sinnan at his side;
they have long ago given up on us,
our ways beyond the
comprehension of mere gods.

They beg her, leave. Come with us
Into the glittering sunsets, into the
Land of Promises. Leave behind
the heartbreak of rejection. Sing with us
once more, don’t let them
poison you here, where you sit.

It’s true her hair is dull
her eyes are swollen and her lips
chaffed. O! mortals, you are killing
Her, killing Cliona of the Ninth Wave.
And yet she sits and waits,
Refusing to drown her hope.

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Thursday, July 29, 2010

PPP Summer Edition Now up!

Well It's a bit later than promised but I think you'll agree, well worth the wait!
Thanks to almost epic levels of incompetence on behalf of Ireland's leading phone and internet provider, I've been without proper BB access for weeks now, and it's been a struggle to get even the basics done.
However the power of poetry and creativity triumphed in the end aided by a very high level of excellent submissions this time!

We have a collection of poems from Sunil P Narayan that we are confident you will enjoy; along with a debut poem from Peter Lukey entitled "Boudicca". Sara Curran returns with the comic "BBQ Blues" and Gina Bass with the tragic "No Cards" giving us a taste of light and dark. Maureen Duffy-Booze gives us two lovely offerings "I cry out to the Rock" and "The Sphinx" while Joker returns with "Midsummer."
"The Garden of the Wild Wild Rose" by Geraldine Moorkens Byrne is in memory of her baby niece; while "Solstice" represents the experiences of solstice morning at Tara. SparrowGael's haunting "Dark Lover" and ElainePurplePagan's evocative poem "Stepping from the Shadows" exhorts us to leave nothing unsaid..a very fitting motto for poets.


We hope you read and enjoy...and be inspired!


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Spread the word!

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Silver Tree


IMG_2616
Originally uploaded by GerCMByrne.
I love Motorway art; next to the new statue of Fionn Mac Cumhail and Hounds at Newbridge this is my favourite...the silver tree en route to Wexford.

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Friday, May 21, 2010

On stony ground, You fall like rain

On stony ground, You fall like rain


When I walk the hard path
and stray, distracted by storm clouds
you walk with me.
I know it is your hand that
pulls me back, steers me towards
grass verges.

When I am blinded by the sun,
and fear I will not find my way again
you call my name.
It is your voice I recognise
over the howling winds and
screaming gales.

When I can find no rest or shade
it is you who shelters me, like an
Oak tree.
I am safe with you, my love -
for you fall on stony ground
like rain.

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Tuesday, March 16, 2010

When St Patrick Met the Druid

When St Patrick met the Druid

Seeing is believing, but really
there were no snakes to start with
It's not a miracle
to drive away the invisible.

He was a gaunt man
inflamed with the need to prove
he was no swineherd;
Patrician of Ireland
refusing to acknowledge an Ollamh
A Doctor of Knowledge, a poet.

He has no subtlety of words
but speaks quickly without reflection
eager to fill the space between us
With reflections on his God

I ask him, what three things
make a man of honour?
He does not know the answer
He is no initiate.

Yet he has fire, this slave turned master
I can see him devouring us all.
I waste no more words on him;
He cannot hear what I say.

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Saturday, March 6, 2010

Inlet


IMG_3084
Originally uploaded by GerCMByrne.
That wild coast still calls me
rock and nook and inlet
wave upon wave, from the time
my father's father stood
every grain of sand filtered
through a dark hourglass
calling me back, pulsing
like the blood in my veins


Geraldine Moorkens Byrne

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Want

Poetic Challenge for today is to write a love poem.
I have written several poems about the love of my life Toast and Belgian Chocolate; An Apology to Aongus Óg and This of Small Virtues for example.

Seeing as Valentine's Day is almost upon us, this is a small but heartfelt one for Himself.

Love poem

If he is tired, I only want
To smooth the lines of his day
And hold him safe.
If he hungers, there is no joy
In food or drink until
He is replete.
If he is cold, my only thought
Is to light a fire
To warm him.
I have no needs, I lack nothing
Until he hurts; and then I bruise.

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Tuesday, February 9, 2010

And now for something completely different. This is a poetic challenge from Robert Lee Brewer - essentially to write a sestina using 6 favourite obscure or at least less common words. Now being a total dunce at this and never having attempted a sestina before I made a fundemental error - I thought the end words of the lines had to be rotated in order. I didn't realise they had to be rotated in a different order, despite rather clear instructions :) So having finished it I realised I had done it wrong however, I have grown rather fond of my Monster and Gargoyle so I've left it as it is. I will however have another go tomorrow using different words and the correct rotation order!


Chortle , Gargoyle , Hullabaloo, Portmanteau, pomegranate, countenance

Stanza 1
You know what makes me chortle?
Said the monster to the Gargoyle
when I jump out of a portmanteau
and my victims make a hullabaloo
One swallowed whole, a pomegranate
Turning puce in her fair countenance.

Stanza 2
The other would not countenance
this; cruelty did not make him chortle
- his was a noble race, The Gargoyle
lofty towers, not cheap portmanteau
Silent watching, not raucous hullabaloo
And no choking on pomegranate.


Stanza 3
She could have choked on that pomegranate
He said with a stern countenance.
While you indulged in your chortle
Why can’t you be more like a gargoyle?
As it is she packed your portmanteau
You’ve lost your place for that hullabaloo!

Stanza 4
The Monster sniggered. That Hullabaloo
Was worth a dozen strangled pomegranate
eating women, however fair her countenance.
Your problem is you never have a chortle.
You don’t know how to live, Gargoyle.
So what if all I have is my portmanteau?

Stanza 5
If you are happy living out of a portmanteau
Then by all means, enjoy the result of your hullabaloo
You’ll never find another girl to feed you pomegranates
Or who will love your ugly countenance
But you’ll have had a good old chortle.
Thus spake the wise old, cool headed Gargoyle

Stanza 6
The monster looked at his friend, the Gargoyle.
He scratched the worn leather of his portmanteau
He was a monster, his business was hullabaloos
It seemed hard that his nature lost him pomegranates
And soft words and kind hands and pretty countenance.
And yet, he could not have stifled that fateful chortle.

Stanza 7
Monster sighed -Gargoyle, I did not mean to chortle
. but jumping out of portmanteau and causing a hullabaloo
Is more to me than sweet pomegranates and fair countenance.

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Friday, February 5, 2010

In the Gaps

In the Gaps

In the gaps
between notes, he plays
a different tune,
changes the key
and makes us dance.

In the silence
he creates shapes;
a space for dreams
that hits us like waves
and makes us sing.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Spaces

Deep in the night
Between last orders
And first light
Gods wander the city
Stealing dreams.
Pass them by,
If you see them
Do not stop or stare
Do not dare them
They are not at play.
They own this ground
From slick kerb
to guttered edge and
In between.
All the spaces.

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Saturday, January 30, 2010

Twitter Fragment January 2010

i
Girl on city street, heels clicking
shiny hair, gleaming lips
eyes glinting in the smokey light
siren song in her stride

ii
Boy on corner smoking
haloed under streetlight's glow
watches the lilt of a girl's walk
breathes her in like air
forgets to exhale

iii
Cold grey sky can lie
the tell tale signs
one green shoot, rooted in dark soil
one new blade turned toward a wintry sun
Bridget comes

iv
hope - uncertain friend
promising much yet in the end
what happens next, all depends
on things Hope can't control

v
Dark rain, vanquishing spirit
overpowers the pristine cloak of snow
revealing colours, angles, edges

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Monday, January 11, 2010

Snow in Dublin II

Snow in Dublin II

At midnight
We found ourselves
walking a borrowed dog,
in a world
of white, frosted
under a diamond sky.

We were silent;
overawed by
that still cliché of snow ,
not a sound
except the crisp
break of sparkling cold.

There is ice,
buried under
the soft clean white.
No step
is quite sure,
so you take my arm.

We are
alone, intrepid
you, me and the borrowed dog.
We are safe
in this world,
under jewelled skies.

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