Stella's Cottage

Stella's cottage
Smothered in Autumn now
It's shrunken walls still fighting off the fields

As youngsters we used to sack potatoes there
On damp days under the tinder dry thatch
Hunkered and cramped
As we rummaged among the gaunt growths
For Pinks and Banners

And the odd Golden Wonder
Rubbing shoulders with the riff raff

And where 'tis said
Forbidden fruit once flourished
And angels strayed in from the straight and narrow
We slung poreens through the rough door
Without as much as a thought for the ghost
That might have stood on the step

Stella's cottage
Struggling with September
What ghost stands there now?
My sack is full, youth
A crumpled pile in the corner
The thatch has given way to bramble, sprig and sky
And by the rough door wild potatoes pose
For puzzled passers by
So what ghost stands there now?
What spirit lurks in this skipful of briars by the roadside?

Figurine

For years you had stood in the shade, unnoticed
Surviving several changes of wallpaper

Between the chipped milk maid
And the Capodimonti granny

The contours of your crinoline rigid
Hair set permanently under the cold glaze

A lady of leisure too, except for the odd job
Propping up a postcard, a paperweight

Until you fell, and picking up the pieces
We discussed your origins

An arm here, a leg there
And the aristocratic head still smiling

Spent nailbiting hours tending your wounds
Moved you into the sunlight

Now, we change the wallpaper to match your eyes
Take you gently by the arm
Blow the dust from your shoulders
Pull your leg

^

Biography

My poems have been published widely in magazines such as Fortnight, Riverine, Ratpit Riposte and also featured on Ulster Television film "Valley of The Kings" I have won some prizes including Hopkins in Kildare, The Nora Fahy in Clare, Kavanagh in Co. Louth and Allingham in Donegal, Ledwidge in Dublin. My stories have been in Ireland's Own And Education Matters and the computer that I am now working on was my prize last year for a story in Drogheda.