tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81967621282886292192024-03-29T03:27:37.162+00:00OdradekPenal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-76086588819191502882024-03-28T17:06:00.000+00:002024-03-28T17:07:00.832+00:00AN DALL SA STUDIO<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">This is one of my favorite schoolbook poems, 'An Dall Sa Studio', or 'The
Blind Man in the Studio', by </span><span style="background: white; color: #202124; font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Seán Ó Ríordáin (1916 - 1977), one of Ireland's
finest Irish language poets.</span></p>
<p><iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CVyNReU1kKLe1LQqIojiE7gBzMKxqZx-/preview?usp=share_link"></iframe></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-12156332358451382122024-03-09T11:56:00.001+00:002024-03-09T11:59:15.121+00:00THE DRUNK-FOX<div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Burning out of the gorse and now sentinel</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">at a gate of gold where furze, scrubs</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">and willows grow, and poised on the heath</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">in the midday marsh by fern and emerald gray,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">his redness flexes its crystal lens</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">and stares through beads of cobalt</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">down the dew-decked lane.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">What den flushed him out, strained</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">russet out of auburn, and put him down</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">amid the speckled shadows where broom</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">and heather fleck sedge and brush</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">till they sneeze seeds and polyps of musk —</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">thistles colonize the sweet vernal grass</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">with spots of pignut and meadow eyebright?</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">He sees all, the marshy rush and cuckoo flower,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">the bilberries bursting at their seams,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">and bluebells tolling softly on the mossy margins,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">and he can sniff the scent off sage and ragwort,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">hear the dog violets bark, and feel the urge to ramble</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">in the brambles before he insinuates himself</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">paw by snout into the tight-fitting foxglove.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
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Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-82635801225156392442024-01-14T08:43:00.002+00:002024-01-14T08:44:49.260+00:00SHIP OF FOOLS<div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Our ship of earth is destined</span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">to run aground, but not</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">on cliffs of ice, or stone, or land, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">but on the rocks of ourselves—</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We have renamed our ship </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">the <i>RMS Titanic</i>, but a maiden </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">voyage this is certainly not— </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We have navigated these seas</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">since time immemorial, setting </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">our terminal course to nowhere, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">captained by lunacy and hate, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and mutinous from the start—</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We’ve carried our cargoes too of war, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">famine, scurvy, slavery, and greed </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">from port to port without end,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and every time we recklessly sink,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">we are found again and salvaged again </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">from the unfathomable deeps of ourselves— </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Our liner will endure unsinkable,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">only the passengers and crew can drown.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-54075716810710363562023-12-24T10:20:00.005+00:002023-12-24T10:21:40.386+00:00BEDE’S BIRD<div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">In my sixtieth year I finally awoke</span><div><span style="font-size: large;">and found myself lost and alone </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">at the edge of a dark forest—</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I know there is a light in there </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">that is not some residual glow </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">of my synapses or senses dying—</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I know it is you my love, my savior, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">my last stay against the darkness, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and I know that light is your love</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and your faith that will never cede— </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Hold on a bit longer, dearest one, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">for I will find my way back to you.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I will enter the dark forest of myself, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and altering Bede’s parable will arrive </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">from the storms within to you without.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-84838183957322224952023-12-03T16:36:00.001+00:002023-12-03T16:36:43.739+00:00HOMELESS<div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Each of you was a guy rope </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">fixing us to earth and tribe, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">but now those ropes are cut, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and our tent is a rag in wind. <br /><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">A storm has taken our rag </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">as it were a sail and whipped it </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">out to sea, where it rides the rain </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and wind like a broken wing.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-75449702733627065662023-11-30T09:51:00.003+00:002023-11-30T09:56:27.913+00:00SILENT NIGHT<div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">It is nearly impossible to comprehend or process the death of one’s mother. Mine had the most reliable and advanced moral compass of anyone I have ever known. As mother to a dozen children and wife to a somewhat maverick husband, whose fecklessness often needed tender governance, she developed diplomatic skills that would make the best global diplomats look like amateurs. </span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We are facing into Christmas without her, and are reminded by the stacks of gifts she purchased and stored before she died, that the Yuletide was one of her favorite times of year, precisely because it was <i>the</i> family occasion. But what will Christmas be without mother? Another ‘Silent Night’, of sorts:</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>
Silent Night</b></span><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><br /></i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i>~For Mother~</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This year without you will end </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">in snow and shadows,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">prayers like icicles will fall across </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">our grief and cut it raw.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">We will seek you in the carols, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">but will find only silence,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">our tears thawing and flowing, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and absence like a dead end,</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">like a dark empty road </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">between fields under trees, </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">where a lone cry can die </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">into the dead of night.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This year without you will end </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">with homecomings, headlights </span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">cleaving sylvan shadows,</span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and your laughter lost between.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div></div>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-1374137317787547912023-11-26T20:00:00.000+00:002023-11-27T23:07:01.053+00:00HOGMANAY<div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><br /></span></class></div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">The
smoke of the Juniper closes<o:p></o:p></span> </span></class><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">the
year, we pray for cladding,<o:p></o:p></span> </span></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">and
wear ash to heal<o:p></o:p></span> </span></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">our
bones –<o:p></o:p></span>
<class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span> </class></span></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Berries
distil into oil and wine,<o:p></o:p></span> </span></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">our
remedy for loss,<o:p></o:p></span>
<class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">our
cure </span></class></span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">for white after blue<o:p></o:p></span> </span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">bleeds
gold –<o:p></o:p></span>
<class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><o:p> </o:p></span> </class></span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">Bonsai
roots pruned into shape</span> </span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">lose
vigor in confinement,<o:p></o:p></span> </span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;">though
the fruit is still ample,<o:p></o:p></span> </span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">though the graft has style.</span><o:p></o:p></span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div><div><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><class sonormal="" style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Book Antiqua",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></class></div>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-38793425196488402892023-11-26T06:32:00.012+00:002023-11-26T10:41:57.668+00:00MARGARET 'ENA' GRIFFIN - (August 6th, 1935 - October 30th, 2023)<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VLA-anW0tkgMWJ5BgpEFJX3WtMCJuoklqpYiS05gRQz-NhdA0t7oQ2P9gJ1fdlmsuEVwPfYiR3zfJUq5Ys1N_UbSSb6mje4fQs-w2vjUnurjLbUc1Zp45WdYprkE8MYg2qAVbJcz6-FQidEwaHRCXgGAv6_waRNN1YppvVIvetc_g3ug3Wo6V6hg6C8/s1125/8db58e0e-e358-4275-b42f-81266d08b800.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1125" data-original-width="828" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4VLA-anW0tkgMWJ5BgpEFJX3WtMCJuoklqpYiS05gRQz-NhdA0t7oQ2P9gJ1fdlmsuEVwPfYiR3zfJUq5Ys1N_UbSSb6mje4fQs-w2vjUnurjLbUc1Zp45WdYprkE8MYg2qAVbJcz6-FQidEwaHRCXgGAv6_waRNN1YppvVIvetc_g3ug3Wo6V6hg6C8/s320/8db58e0e-e358-4275-b42f-81266d08b800.jpg" width="236" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjFzSN4Py1eGfJD-BekGinasYVbtclQuiiwbi6iTpDupVMEHa4W3g_MFryFskA-jO4e4_NVNf2WvZ6Qe-a5E5OvY0zsqX-s_SS8SInXCApOh1Q3R-HxcnVS19PGNRPhNLwFbx7SJorBcBhwdTvm2IP-yNdu4Ou-ObFDU7UNdjdaLm657oaLdoLcZw4QA/s512/3505efb8-f550-4d12-8432-e16664f06518.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="364" data-original-width="512" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYjFzSN4Py1eGfJD-BekGinasYVbtclQuiiwbi6iTpDupVMEHa4W3g_MFryFskA-jO4e4_NVNf2WvZ6Qe-a5E5OvY0zsqX-s_SS8SInXCApOh1Q3R-HxcnVS19PGNRPhNLwFbx7SJorBcBhwdTvm2IP-yNdu4Ou-ObFDU7UNdjdaLm657oaLdoLcZw4QA/s320/3505efb8-f550-4d12-8432-e16664f06518.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdUVhNwREtkrxzOpzsUphxO4nBhVqDUmfiLhXC_OxnPrWWIPVvFwQT05jqeNuTx_2lKtIuzs5ezr1Wbp49G-cUdo6fKCBGNlvgV3pAI6ZttvJeUBSAX_knSQ6pw05w9BiL-tBHNoR3wZTtg7kgm1LuR9WLDPKdFv0pT6tL_4i-aLH185bmFoKU2eJ41c/s1024/fc363cd6-cb24-42ba-84e0-8500fc533bbd.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="802" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPdUVhNwREtkrxzOpzsUphxO4nBhVqDUmfiLhXC_OxnPrWWIPVvFwQT05jqeNuTx_2lKtIuzs5ezr1Wbp49G-cUdo6fKCBGNlvgV3pAI6ZttvJeUBSAX_knSQ6pw05w9BiL-tBHNoR3wZTtg7kgm1LuR9WLDPKdFv0pT6tL_4i-aLH185bmFoKU2eJ41c/s320/fc363cd6-cb24-42ba-84e0-8500fc533bbd.jpg" width="251" /></a></div><p style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jTre2cDljJ593iv6s6PPvAW7lT0K1esJY6R1TqZonlB3RlWk4QzVO0TuX4TMZPsiDeUSgiPmhmxNRQLJAhydcRdkIX_Zet_rRcYiWTQewO5qWeSEJf6wbh1OQT8OIuVnA4U2yu_IjPO5hjShTsLLjZYMQRQbObWCxP93LF0z2PuwvB89Tsg8pmcBimE/s512/b08ae8d6-7d9a-4387-8e27-2eceb5d2edfd.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="341" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0jTre2cDljJ593iv6s6PPvAW7lT0K1esJY6R1TqZonlB3RlWk4QzVO0TuX4TMZPsiDeUSgiPmhmxNRQLJAhydcRdkIX_Zet_rRcYiWTQewO5qWeSEJf6wbh1OQT8OIuVnA4U2yu_IjPO5hjShTsLLjZYMQRQbObWCxP93LF0z2PuwvB89Tsg8pmcBimE/s320/b08ae8d6-7d9a-4387-8e27-2eceb5d2edfd.jpeg" width="213" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Our beautiful mother died peacefully at home on October 30th. She died on the eve of Halloween, itself the eve of All Saints Day. 22 of her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren were around her bedside when she took her final breath. It seems surreal and unreal the weight of this sadness and grief, and my family knows we will never comes to terms with our loss, all we can do from now on is cope, live as best we can, and pay forward the extraordinary compassion, generosity, kindness, and love our mother showed to everyone. She belonged to Ireland's greatest generation, the ones who built our nation directly after independence and centuries of oppression. Herself and my father protected their 12 children from all external, hostile forces that so savagely undid many families on our small island home. Her dedication to family was legendary, and her table was the symbol of her infinite generosity and love -- My poem 'Our Table' references mother's generosity:</span><p></p><p></p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&si=nynrPe5Aj3GG28hD&v=nr1GbV4BGqo&feq-ture=youtu.be"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&si=nynrPe5Aj3GG28hD&v=nr1GbV4BGqo&feq-ture=youtu.be</span></a></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">It is impossible to pay proper tribute to a lady of such depth and importance as my mother, but I have been trying in the only way I know how, by dedicating elegies to her. This one 'Finis' is self-explanatory:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><blockquote style="border: medium; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Finis</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"> </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Let us make this last crossing together,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">down the dark boreens of the dead,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and up past the light’s pale blue line</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">to where the migratory ghost bird sings,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">let us listen together above the wastes</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">for the beloved voices that are now gone,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">all those fading echoes we still cling to </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">as the terminal darkness closes round,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">let us hold hands this last time, you</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and I, before the everlasting sky dims</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and wraps its mummy cloths about us, </span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">before the tomb’s womb enshrouds us,</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">and we go dumb here once and for all.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 22.826668px;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Let us be done with it. look, our terminus</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 15.693334px; margin: 0cm; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">is just up ahead, a shade is waving us in.</span></span></p></blockquote><p> </p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-23357447252591448502023-11-03T00:17:00.002+00:002023-11-27T23:07:17.542+00:00OUR TABLE<div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>~For Mother~</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><i><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></i></span></div><span style="font-size: large;">
Your table bore the bread of the years, </span><div><span style="font-size: large;">and divided it amongst our congregated selves. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Its grains and its cuts, its grooves, and stains</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">are the emblems of our appetites and good cheer, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">our joys and now our aging, and when it gathered </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">us together and collected all our stories,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">it made a banquet of remembrance.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Because of you, it is the fulcrum at our center,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">our pivot of gravity, our <i>Tabula Rasa</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">upon which is written the biography</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">of all our days, it is the tablet</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">of our broken and unbroken ways,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the battleground of all our wars,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and the place we come to sign</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">each peace treaty and bitter ceasefire.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">We have laid the maps of ourselves</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">on this very table and planned our moves</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and countermoves, we have brought</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">our allies here, our friends, and lovers, even</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">our foes, and we have celebrated</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the blessing of all who have come.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">It has been our bridge as well as the gulf</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">between us, the earth as well as the harvest</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">of all the memories we have sown,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and it wears the relics of each feast</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and festival, it conjures colors, sounds,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">aromas, and tastes out of silence and absence, </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">laughter hangs above it like the echoes</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">of our lost years, and the world's fare</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">has filled it up, weighed it down,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and emptied it again at the close of day,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">it knows the world's woes, and ours,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">it has shouldered the weight of the world,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">and has held our hands through</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the darkest trials of our loves and fears,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">the sweet and sour grapes of our passage</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">have whet its appetite and stained its face,</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">but the table endures and binds us</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">one to one, each to all, and all to you, dear mother.</span></div><div><br /></div>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-83978710873645092692023-03-10T21:43:00.004+00:002023-03-16T08:17:07.781+00:00PARTULA<p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This poem is inspired by the sublime work of the German author, Jenny Erpenbeck, whose new novel <i>Kairos</i> will be released in June. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">This reading is dedicated to Emerald.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"></span></p><p>
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XB2vg-kBNM18AA-qp7OedEkd3iSunYDq/preview?usp=share_link" width="90%"></iframe></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-45970844798980963302023-02-05T06:32:00.008+00:002023-02-14T04:34:45.609+00:00BOOK LAUNCH ~ FEBRUARY 3RD 2023 ~ LIBRARY ~ EXCEL THEATRE, TIPPERARY TOWN<p><span style="font-size: large;">I would like to thank my sister, the extraordinary poet, <a href="https://twitter.com/EleanorHooker_" target="_blank">Eleanor Hooker</a>, author of 3 acclaimed books, for organizing the launch of <i>Erosions</i>, which took place on Friday night in the Excel Theatre in Tipperary Town, our hometown. The event was attended by our family and dear friends and was a special evening for all of us.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Catherine Fogarty and Majella Hickey (the librarians) kindly and graciously agreed to stay long after hours to host the reading. They were generous and supportive throughout and both are owed special thanks. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">I would also like to thank my brother <a href="https://twitter.com/OllyGriffin" target="_blank">Olly</a> for filming and photographing the evening, my sisters Alice & Margaret for catering the event, and my niece Lisa for her artful confectionaries. Some of Olly's photos are inserted below.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzj4l23SGN9gL1mRo5w6XDXxBn8EjIuFy8L3DozBS7a5jLCA48iGCTuivy5XeYmRRQYwRrO6KLmEuvv2mHj257PHOr2K2YZGDZU6ubYkdZc9WS2cBoC23lVof5IEgHz7te2gzj07FteIEriO6co2tz3yWJVainBpFVvqxTBo2_Mb64MqKUq5NT4WY/s454/EROSIONS%20-%20LAUNCH%20-%200.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="290" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuzj4l23SGN9gL1mRo5w6XDXxBn8EjIuFy8L3DozBS7a5jLCA48iGCTuivy5XeYmRRQYwRrO6KLmEuvv2mHj257PHOr2K2YZGDZU6ubYkdZc9WS2cBoC23lVof5IEgHz7te2gzj07FteIEriO6co2tz3yWJVainBpFVvqxTBo2_Mb64MqKUq5NT4WY/s320/EROSIONS%20-%20LAUNCH%20-%200.jpeg" width="204" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhB6YOwu6MzJXPP-A45hnTUgBq32D15yjuziVjTXptTOWvW1VSMFgS8OwtLuwDvd96cuPaqGncex4WpzPkI0TNSJoret-U6vzZmThfsE5J9VLXb5Y8v_Y4vdCvHgXn54ZXIHmH7cThIRZXqgc4LvIuaUSoy4kfudmSK8MpgLFYNjd_XMPrjfWJyLRCj" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhB6YOwu6MzJXPP-A45hnTUgBq32D15yjuziVjTXptTOWvW1VSMFgS8OwtLuwDvd96cuPaqGncex4WpzPkI0TNSJoret-U6vzZmThfsE5J9VLXb5Y8v_Y4vdCvHgXn54ZXIHmH7cThIRZXqgc4LvIuaUSoy4kfudmSK8MpgLFYNjd_XMPrjfWJyLRCj" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnj0Wqfp4D1eKMzgOHhYOWWEuIDirgCLmcnbMH4nglthj-1CHorKbXGYO_asTIi2A9J2zKHf17BHR2egg0yl0tJGTWhaT4YpqJk-L2WP1xWCjBHu1RHs88uOLv4Z0V7uLIwUW_qThtznntSvOOGVSzxMgsjXqaiFxEOMyWyLStQfDXWMY95faLDFBy" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjnj0Wqfp4D1eKMzgOHhYOWWEuIDirgCLmcnbMH4nglthj-1CHorKbXGYO_asTIi2A9J2zKHf17BHR2egg0yl0tJGTWhaT4YpqJk-L2WP1xWCjBHu1RHs88uOLv4Z0V7uLIwUW_qThtznntSvOOGVSzxMgsjXqaiFxEOMyWyLStQfDXWMY95faLDFBy" width="180" /></a></div><br /><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjq717hSG1Q5vSO8RPorqDGtKBlvxthZpmFdI0vCP7mbVg3YeQn2Hzjw2Y-xyjJszR80t77tN1CnBTveZeBOFUvx9hmzWYiVnCgJwyXc5BuLbu1KsjAOkUc-S96jB4AyqydUMT0WvPeUPsuo_mXpiYE3WnuR_UYGGWG54MuKA23k0eFkTwT2WfWRKtM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="1080" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjq717hSG1Q5vSO8RPorqDGtKBlvxthZpmFdI0vCP7mbVg3YeQn2Hzjw2Y-xyjJszR80t77tN1CnBTveZeBOFUvx9hmzWYiVnCgJwyXc5BuLbu1KsjAOkUc-S96jB4AyqydUMT0WvPeUPsuo_mXpiYE3WnuR_UYGGWG54MuKA23k0eFkTwT2WfWRKtM" width="180" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxFAKX9dIjHNL2ZbktCCw9am-R4MgOb0jOzrxxSdDMK72x1Vcy5Y1BQoW98WQNdHeYZAo14sD0CF8tZaML78_IzRfSqpS1PlYaon_7bsMzy2aEb7DoT1IgMs8xcI3nlQ5XMrOGhBXy7TBt9gKdEIO2dVUSWosiTx_u2AlMUfdpiRvWD-g9qO9QjUbz" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgxFAKX9dIjHNL2ZbktCCw9am-R4MgOb0jOzrxxSdDMK72x1Vcy5Y1BQoW98WQNdHeYZAo14sD0CF8tZaML78_IzRfSqpS1PlYaon_7bsMzy2aEb7DoT1IgMs8xcI3nlQ5XMrOGhBXy7TBt9gKdEIO2dVUSWosiTx_u2AlMUfdpiRvWD-g9qO9QjUbz" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-76944545522724855452023-01-23T07:30:00.004+00:002023-01-23T07:30:30.951+00:00'DEMIJOHN'<p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">My illustration for the poem 'Demijohn':</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xK4dborc5KLimwEQrv0z-lmVGet6PAt7kA3FkNthohxHxTlDPZ1VycvjR-kmYQ-hjXlVZ2MMSZm6cN2J2_iW9MgrbQd1PmUszCWzqSX13it9YaHWa7DNNbY9dLCdXBr1JILKmhOGjn8CeIkRBQZwdca3QUI7mQhq67NnkwrHMXmCwMo7JEWLfXBY/s1503/Demijohn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1248" data-original-width="1503" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_xK4dborc5KLimwEQrv0z-lmVGet6PAt7kA3FkNthohxHxTlDPZ1VycvjR-kmYQ-hjXlVZ2MMSZm6cN2J2_iW9MgrbQd1PmUszCWzqSX13it9YaHWa7DNNbY9dLCdXBr1JILKmhOGjn8CeIkRBQZwdca3QUI7mQhq67NnkwrHMXmCwMo7JEWLfXBY/w388-h332/Demijohn.jpg" width="388" /></a></div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-1976343142674879032023-01-22T04:52:00.009+00:002023-01-22T08:28:50.320+00:00EROSIONS - BOOK LAUNCH<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dWXgUsE8ygrIQYX53ePiuBSA_j48cNPdnunW68p0qpMVXD06urINp_1KK9HFWJ3XS0lgRaJvnmrDFOM8Xu1NzS6_qN7gZ66RPrXa6pi8zb-Z39b8wgdNm7K-gQKP2BzxjInGkpRZSMctycf938Zmv91nvRrkgPF8Iu7hsUnd3BcLogQEH5ILU_jT/s855/Erosions%20_%20Invitation.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="471" data-original-width="855" height="242" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0dWXgUsE8ygrIQYX53ePiuBSA_j48cNPdnunW68p0qpMVXD06urINp_1KK9HFWJ3XS0lgRaJvnmrDFOM8Xu1NzS6_qN7gZ66RPrXa6pi8zb-Z39b8wgdNm7K-gQKP2BzxjInGkpRZSMctycf938Zmv91nvRrkgPF8Iu7hsUnd3BcLogQEH5ILU_jT/w399-h242/Erosions%20_%20Invitation.JPG" width="399" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-55092813227222586492023-01-22T04:50:00.004+00:002023-01-22T04:50:42.893+00:00SALMON POETRY PODCAST<p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">Salmon Poetry Podcast was aired on Friday, January 20th. It can be accessed at the link appended:</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">https://salmonpoetry.podbean.com/e/john-griffin-erosions/</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-25880220702068361112023-01-16T14:28:00.004+00:002023-01-16T14:28:57.991+00:00BOOKS IRELAND<p> <span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://booksirelandmagazine.com/" target="_blank">Books Ireland</a> has just posted my reading of the poem 'Demijohn' from <i>Erosions</i>. Sincerest thanks to the editor, Ruth McKee, for kindly agreeing to post the reading: </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><a href="https://booksirelandmagazine.com/poetry-happening-john-griffin/" target="_blank">BOOKS IRELAND ~ 'Demijohn' Read by John A Griffin</a></span></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-34072290511335521582023-01-15T21:20:00.004+00:002023-01-16T23:27:28.063+00:00EROSIONS<p><span style="font-size: large;">Salmon Poetry Press recently published my book, <i>Erosions.</i> Thanks are owing to Jessie Lendennie & Siobhan Hutson for their continuous support & faith in getting the book into print:</span></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijg3MhIVa5630gSUm0ECIBPxzZbR8q8cBTsK1w4o59CMODIFYSTZo0AWG-JHeHZo5anFJL3kchQM0JrCICxcLKy58MNcXuM0CM_Isfn6gGqYneuWuUZUOazEMivSA1Da8aDS7r1lNmC32PeIhwxRB94Ej78zBeW8ej2GCT6nZ2G4mZCsBOMdjbK8R4/s2780/frontcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2780" data-original-width="1860" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijg3MhIVa5630gSUm0ECIBPxzZbR8q8cBTsK1w4o59CMODIFYSTZo0AWG-JHeHZo5anFJL3kchQM0JrCICxcLKy58MNcXuM0CM_Isfn6gGqYneuWuUZUOazEMivSA1Da8aDS7r1lNmC32PeIhwxRB94Ej78zBeW8ej2GCT6nZ2G4mZCsBOMdjbK8R4/s320/frontcover.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8sv7lL-3-stqWmYopup6h62OiV7ASfUTxrcZqIcUephLw8A94YvTJyNkfLM4fJFlPLCP40niPwegmPePQT5VppwGSfKTcYqE-u370sk77p0kIkKLXZZ-PYyIxjLk_8Wf1mzZKLHo9LFN7k3B-f8MJGF6rgF-1WQ5MSvHEtu92eGbZknaLRObpjW1/s2780/backcover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2780" data-original-width="1860" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv8sv7lL-3-stqWmYopup6h62OiV7ASfUTxrcZqIcUephLw8A94YvTJyNkfLM4fJFlPLCP40niPwegmPePQT5VppwGSfKTcYqE-u370sk77p0kIkKLXZZ-PYyIxjLk_8Wf1mzZKLHo9LFN7k3B-f8MJGF6rgF-1WQ5MSvHEtu92eGbZknaLRObpjW1/s320/backcover.jpg" width="214" /></a></div><br /><p><span style="font-size: large;">The book can be had directly from Salmon Poetry website here ... <a href="https://salmonpoetry.com/index.php">Salmon Poetry Irish Poetry Books Publishing Ireland Poetry Publishing Literary Publishing Ireland Irish Literature</a> and sample poems here ... <a href="https://salmonpoetry.com/details.php?ID=580&a=364">salmonpoetry.com | Erosions by John Griffin</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><span>I explain the provenance of the book in this <i>Irish Times</i> piece … </span><a href="https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2022/12/28/erosions-is-as-much-about-nature-both-violent-and-calm-as-it-is-about-exile-chasing-the-exotic/">https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2022/12/28/erosions-is-as-much-about-nature-both-violent-and-calm-as-it-is-about-exile-chasing-the-exotic/</a></span></p>Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-81641511582789399862018-09-08T06:15:00.003+01:002023-01-16T23:40:12.739+00:00AFTER LOVE ~ Poems<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSISQHEScXRjkWomD_Nu3P8SwGQRNBvRDu-hGk4DpYrmgWFL3RPqF1nLEsanZrs5M25Dq4sR7_V4whjeeZps0S9NNeWw5RrjsX4OSNIIkqo1CpjROj___hazHCpB_cyfOXaLHMg0JbBk/s1600/AFTER+LOVE+%257E+Cover.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWSISQHEScXRjkWomD_Nu3P8SwGQRNBvRDu-hGk4DpYrmgWFL3RPqF1nLEsanZrs5M25Dq4sR7_V4whjeeZps0S9NNeWw5RrjsX4OSNIIkqo1CpjROj___hazHCpB_cyfOXaLHMg0JbBk/s320/AFTER+LOVE+%257E+Cover.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>T<span style="color: black;">he Esthetic Apostle </span></i><span style="color: black;">has just reprinted <i>After Love</i> in a corrected, revised edition. This edition comprises my final emendations, and is now registered with an ISBN and available on <a href="http://amazon.com/">Amazon.com.</a> I would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief, Samuel Muiris Griffin, for his tasteful work on the book, as well as Benjamin Erlandson [<a href="http://benerlandson.net/">benerlandson.net</a>] for kind permission to use an image from his series, 'Escarpment Fog':</span></span><br /><br />
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<span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: transparent; display: inline; float: none; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: georgia;">After Love is a short collection of wistful poems, 16 in all, that treat of love, loss, war, regeneration, conflagration, aging, illness, and the exotic. One senses slight, nuanced transgressions in some of these poems, especially in 'Nereids', 'The Disappearing Art', 'The Wasps', and 'Oulipo', where the exotic grows out of the macabre and sometimes even out of brutality. An allusion to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in 'The Disappearing Art' finds its poetic correlative or analogue in 'Oulipo', while the miscarriage in 'Midwife' is recalibrated in 'Our Lost Son'. Curiously, even ephemerally, the poems converse with one another so that the theme of bugonia in 'The Wasps' finds an alternate treatment in 'Wildfire' and 'Ephemeris'. The title of the book, After Love, can suggest either a life after love or a yearning after love, and both senses are subsumed in the eponymous poem. The long poem 'Tunnels' expands on many of these themes and explores the larger one of aging, ailing, and the grief of departing our teeming earth. The old man in section III sees his world reflected upside-down and in reverse in the bauble-like apples hanging from the trees, and he tries to find answers to his own condition in their cycles, symmetries, and ultimate decay. After Love is a small book but its themes are large and highly provocative, and it captures in beautiful lyrics the extraordinary majesty and mystery of nature, life, and the human condition.</span></span></blockquote>
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Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8196762128288629219.post-81694055554014808442018-07-04T00:43:00.001+01:002023-01-16T23:42:13.271+00:00 ABSENCES ~ A SEQUENCE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6ovaA_FWFbf6vwtpHAQivyxffIe-exC6IGhLS8Kjc9Pdapxkyf13gu-ov4HeqlnV65a3hyaCMk0gK0ANYkrTMhJse1MR6jNAsLoORkNlgJE_CD5p4Fm3VRf630mW0j3Kic-ArajF650/s1600/Absences+%257E+A+Sequence.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW6ovaA_FWFbf6vwtpHAQivyxffIe-exC6IGhLS8Kjc9Pdapxkyf13gu-ov4HeqlnV65a3hyaCMk0gK0ANYkrTMhJse1MR6jNAsLoORkNlgJE_CD5p4Fm3VRf630mW0j3Kic-ArajF650/s400/Absences+%257E+A+Sequence.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+esthetic+apostle&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Athe+esthetic+apostle">The Esthetic Apostle</a></i><span>, a new monthly literary journal out of Chicago, edited by my son Samuel, whose aesthetic discernment is reflected in his dedication to showcasing beautiful prose, poetry, artwork, and photography, has just published my poem sequence </span><i>Absences.</i><span> The chapbook is available from Amazon ... </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Absences-Sequence-John-Griffin/dp/069214286X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1530659410&sr=8-3&keywords=the+esthetic+apostle">Here</a><span>. The artwork is by the wonderful Dutch artist Martine Mooijenkind, alias, Knutseltroep, from Gouda, The Netherlands. The dialogue between between art and the written word is itself one of the subliminal marvels of this collection, and Samuel was most judicious in selecting this particular pairing. He has truly given both works a new breath of life and has infused each with the unsayable essence of their own peculiar aesthetic.</span><br />
<span><br /></span><span>He selected this precis to describe <i>Absences</i>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><i>Absences addresses the themes of loss of youth, loss of innocence, isolation, separation, exile, death, the absence of familiarity, affection, and above all the loss or absence of love. The sequence meditates on the natural world but finds little comfort there. There are no idyllic, romantic refuges from the self, and pathetic fallacies remain just that: instead of providing a balm to the sick heart, the dales of Arcady merely accentuate its angst. The poems find fitting motifs in poetic echoes and these are channeled into the poems' movement to harmonize their rhythms and oscillations and to achieve a kind of unsettling but restorative equipoise. The sequence resonates with allusions to classical mythology, Virginia Woolf, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Julio Cortazar, Franz Kafka, Johann Georg Hamann, Paul Celan, and Bruno Schulz, and tries to weave its patchwork aesthetic by drawing on their disparate but unified themes. Ultimately, the sequence is a celebration of life, even if life's great peroration is death, and even if we all die the same death over and over again.</i></span></span></blockquote><span style="font-family: georgia;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><i>The Esthetic Apostle</i> maintains a Blog [<a href="https://www.estheticapostle.com/">Here</a>], a Facebook Page [<a href="https://www.facebook.com/estheticapostle/">Here</a>], and a Twitter Account [<a href="https://twitter.com/estheticapostle?lang=en">Here</a>]. Be sure to visit often, read, and if possible subscribe or purchase.</span></span></div>
Penal-Colonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04578228230659521795noreply@blogger.com0