Song for Ballyheigue
| County Kerry, Ireland
Twig fire limn
eight fairy
in a lour cave mouth
Four of whom
a tabor thrum
Four of whom
breathe zephyr
through wee fife
All of whom
leap star,
the joy of life.
All of whom
sing lark,
the yet to come |
— Donal Mahoney
One Celt, Armed
Poetry by priests?
Who gives it more than mock attention?
I read their poems, yes,
author first, then the title,
finally the verse itself. Not much,
except for Hopkins.
So I wait for Rome to give us
in addition to its saints
one more decent poet. A sot once said
"Wait. When things get bad enough,
you will see a Celt, armed
with a quiver of poems, ride
flaming out of the hills,
flaming over the lakes,
wearing a rainbow
for a Roman collar."
That’s all well and good
but we need to hear his gallop now. |
— Donal Mahoney
Editor’s Note:
Donal Mahoney, a native of Chicago, lives in St. Louis, MO. The "narrowback"
son of Irish immigrants from Counties Kerry and Cork, he has worked as
an editor for The Chicago Sun-Times, Loyola University Press and
Washington University in St. Louis. He has had poems published in or accepted
by The Wisconsin Review, The Kansas Quarterly, The South Carolina Review,
Commonweal, U.S. Catholic Magazine, Revival (Ireland), The Istanbul
Literary Review (Turkey), Pirene's Fountain (Australia),
ROPES (Ireland), The National Catholic Reporter, Public Republic
(Bulgaria)
and other publications. |
The Irish American Post is
pleased to review poetry submissions for potential publication. Please
email your work to Martin Russell, poetry editor, editor@irishamericanpost.com.
Or mail poems to:
Russell c/o The Post, 1815
W. Brown Deer Rd., Milwaukee, Wis. 53217.
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