Castletownshend

from Change in the Wind

Formula one bees and wasps

criss-cross overhead

and I lie beached in a welcome backwater

on a rock that generations

have both cursed and blessed

near where  the wild land meets the sea

and crow and  seagull do war

for the pickings, from both tip and shore.

The put-putting to sea of the one-man fishing boat

stitches peace and permanence,

as they go out to examine patient lobster pots,

baited and waiting.

Lobster or cuckold. -

both strained from the sea, by deceit.

Whoever has enjoyed

the last supper now takes his turn

to be enjoyed.

There is no guilt in sacrifice

here.

© Niall OConnor 2011

Castletownshend from the church yard.

Good Bookshops stocking Change in the Wind:

Fermoy Books, Fermoy, Co.Cork

The Winding Stair (Ormond Quay)

Connolly Books (Temple Bar)

Scribbles (Drumcondra)

Books Upstairs (College Green)