JAMES LAWLESS

JAMES LAWLESS

THE OTHER HALF

I hear you adding

in the old language,

wearing spectacles now,

the soft light

capturing in their frames

the azure of your eyes.

You are doing the accounts

to keep the roof firm,

the path clear;

you are the fire in the hearth;

I am water running through;

animus, anima:

the balance achieved.

NOW AND THEN

Twenty years is a long time

not to have seen someone

you were beautiful then

or maybe my eyes were young

the mini skirt was in

to show the shape of desire

and long glistening hair

covered a multitude of things

and the moon at your hedge shone cold.

Living around the corner

you became a habit difficult to break

I wrote you verse with a golden nib

and sang you love songs with a golden voice

and through your golden privet hedge

the moon shone silver and cold.

And then we met

twenty yeas on

your hair so grey

your skin so wan

in a long dark coat

you were an ‘oul one’.

It is said that with the years

one becomes as one’s spouse.

You married an ageing man

and skipped the middle years

to catch up with him.

That was now

but even then

I should have heeded the moon.

MONOGAMY

At Gougane Barra

There was a wedding at the oratory of Saint Finbar,

church stone shielded the couple from the lake’s spray

as they smiled their eternity into camera lenses,

there were no blooms on the rhododendron.

At the lake’s edge the swans did not draw near when we clapped,

they stretched their necks and turned

on their timeless journey

with water to keep their heads clear

and unseen feet propelling constantly to drive their hearts.

THE TRAMP  IN THE LADY

Crisp cursive curlicues

camouflage your dirty ink;

your pinny

covers soiled garments;

the rims of your spectacles

stab at the stars;

your hair in a bun

is a birdless nest;

such neatness

hearts froze,

you are the prim

without the rose.

 JAMES LAWLESS

JAMES LAWLES:’ His poetry and prose have won many awards, including the Scintilla Welsh Open Poetry Competition, the WOW award, a Biscuit International Prize for short stories, the Cecil Day Lewis Award and a Hennessey award nomination for emerging fiction. Two of his stories were also shortlisted for the Willesden (2007) and Bridport prizes (2014). He is the author of five well-received novels, a book of children’s stories, a poetry collection Rus in Urbe, and a study of modern poetry Clearing the Tangled Wood: Poetry as a Way of Seeing the World for which he received an arts bursary. His books have been translated into several languages. Born in Dublin, he divides his time between County Kildare and West Cork. You can read more about the author at www.jameslawless.net