Motorway Man
I want to tell you: I watched you sleep on the side of the road
with your chest held in the fireman’s hands. His face turned
from the traffic slowing down.
Tributes
Gonzo
the gonzo mug, the first thing for which i reached
that night when i was twelve and i returned
to the cubicle in the convent i called home
Archetypes
If all of our machines become aware,
Developing some form of sentient thought,
I wonder if they’ll feel suppressed or not,
And think their former treatment was unfair.
After
Now that her heart is bent over
like larkspur after a storm,
she stays in bed past milking time,
pulling the quilt
tight around her shoulders
until her collie barks her
down the stairs
to lift the backdoor latch.
Teacher’s Prayer
Blessed are you, maidens of the one hundred and eighty afternoons
You of the cough at the first inhale
Portrait of Kevin Barry in The Irish Times
I look at him and I say
There’s a man who’s broken
his nose once or twice