All posts tagged: Poetry Ireland

The Light Dancing” and “Lizzie” by Catherine Conlon

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The Light Dancing When I close the door my father’s coat slow-dances against the dark wood. It is old, this coat, marked by many winters, labours of a lifetime done. I imagine him in the front yard screening sand for the new extension, coat collar upturned against the breeze, a cigarette ashing towards his lip. There’s a light in his eyes when I stop during play to prattle and hear him say “you’re the best woman in the house” Now coming from the Big Field, the day’s farming done, his great hands in deep pockets. Dark shoulders that bear a darkness coming, the last of the light dancing on his wet boots. (first published in Ropes 2015. Issue 23) Lizzie I had a child’s view of her, black stockinged legs without shape of calf or ankle at my grandmother’s hearth, the fire shining in her laced-up shoes. Balls of wool from an old shopping bag, and her tongue like the clappers as she looped and purled. Her needles took up the light, flew like red …

Poems by Denise Blake

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Ultrasound   A hand rests at your forehead as if pondering a deep problem. Your arm hides the strong heartbeat but it is there, quietly reassuring. A bent knee that will soon straighten and kick out. Imaging your world, the place of safety for ten more weeks.   Can you hear the noises, the daily rhythms of your parents voices? Can you tell how new they are to this whole experience? In the distance, at a lower pitch are the elders, and the soft echo of uncles, aunts and cousins.   This has been the strangest of summers. You may never learn of the pressures that buffeted your parents, or ever know how each scan showing clenched fingers, stretching limbs, held them both above the rise and falling waves of anxieties. How each image sent the frequency of hope.   Adjusting   The saucepan is full of leftover potatoes and I keep cooking too much rice or pasta. Three placemats still sit on our dining table. Silence has become a strong presence. Our hall light …

2012 Poets and Poetry Sites

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“ I wanted to read or hear the narrative of someone else – a woman and a poet – who has gone here and been there. Who had lifted the kettle to a gas-stove. Who had set her skirt out over a chair, near to the clothes dryer, to have it without  creases for the morning. Who had made the life meet the work and had set it down. Eavan Boland , from Object Lessons. publ. Carcanet 1995.     As ever, thanks to my readers who keep coming back to read, to make suggestions, and to send poems. My feeling is that overall 2012 has been a good year for women poets. There have been the usual scant begrudging reviews, there is still a visibility issue in terms of how many women are published, but poets like Alice Oswald, Ros Barber, Carol Ann Duffy, Eavan Boland, and all the women here published have most definitely placed the woman-poet in her room, on the street, and in the bookshop where young women and upcoming poets may …

2011 poetry news, and online information for poets.

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Given that the Irish Times Books of the Year did not make mention of poetry books for 2011, I thought to add some links to Irish poetry  presses and imprints for those readers of poetry who are not catered for in the list-system. I have to say that I do not think of such ephemera as dates when I approach a book of poetry and my reading included some 2010 volumes (and earlier).  The beauty of poetry is that it is timeless and  poetry books are always relevant. I am going to add links for some poetry publishers, and then some good online resources for readers and writers of poetry. I wonder how many of the books at link will survive the test of time ? (or even taste,  ” So good, so funny, so real, so very, very sad” , is what amounts to review in the article). Irish presses and poetry journals. The Gallery Press  have an eminently worthwhile list of poets and writers, I am adding a link  to their online catalogue for …

Poet-Bloggers, a new category introduction for Poethead.

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This post is about poet-bloggers, the vehicles they use, and how online journals are using web and social-media to increase the profile of poetics. The area is huge, as I found out when I began compiling this Google+ list.  There are multiple groups and individuals connecting across Twitter, and Facebook also. The emphasis here will be on the individual writer, and the journals that are emergent, or already fully developed. I thought to begin with some of the artists who have caught my eye through consistent use of online resources to bring their poetry to the public eye, these writers include, Aíne Mac Aodha, Nuala Ni Chonchúir, Ron Silliman, Charles Bernstein, Al Filreis , Mick Rooney, Pierre Joris , Elizabeth Kate Switaj and Robert Peake. There are many more poets and writers using online and social-media, but the above in particular have a great online presence. They regularly and consistently post about poetry through PENN Sound, personal websites, journals and Facebook.  Publishers such as Salt, Poetry Ireland, Poetry London ,Over the Edge , Munster Literature, Jacket2  , Women Writers Women Books , use online media in a very effective manner also. There are also The Dublin Poetry …