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Delighted to announce that I have been awarded a Words Ireland mentorship. Found out a few days ago. I will be able to work with a poetry mentor to help me work on my next poetry project.

Delighted to say the copies of my collection of poems The Singing Hollow have arrived. It’s lovely to see them out of a box.

In further news I got permission from the Paul Henry estate to use the photo of The Only Tree in the Burren. Whyte’s Auctioneers kindly gave the photo for free to use. Thanks to them. Anne Tannam and Catherine Ann Cullen kindly did the blurbs on the back. Thanks to them also. I am currently working on the final proofs of the manuscript and checking for errors and punctuation issues. I hope to have a face to face book launch sometime in late November or early December 2021.

A poem of mine Bottle Bank Therapy was published in the Waxed Lemon. I am delighted with that and look forward to reading the journal.

Bottle Bank Therapy

On the first day of ease from the lockdown,
I bring a box full of bottles, green, brown, clear 
and blue. They shine in the sun. Glass shards litter the ground.
I pick my way carefully to the bank and select a bottle. 
The neck is smooth. I lob it down the hole, 
listen to the cacophony of the breaking, 
a joyous crashing sound, the way the glass clinks 
through glass, makes the sound of rain. It is heaven
to me as I let go and keep letting go and think how will 
we gather our smashed selves into a new whole.

Some major news. My collection of poetry called The Singing Hollow has been accepted for publication by Alba Publishing. Launch details are to follow after the book has been printed. I am delighted.

Aughacasla Strand

The wide bay is shaped like a horseshoe.
The sand fills the pools and algae covers 
the rocks. The wash comes in then goes out 
with a crash. My debts pile up, drag
me down. I lost my job and my world shakes.
I seek to clear my head as it pounds
then run to find an answer, make an imprint
of feet. I release my thoughts into the waves
which pull back, leaving the shingle shining
in rusted browns, yellows, reds and blues.

Rented House

As you open the front door 
the light through the fan window is lost for a while.

Dampness from mouldy walls wets the window.
A door may be slammed,
keys lost, or an argument had over unpaid bills.
The spark of anger is doused
as you keep your distance.

The shape that you carry from house to house
is a suitcase. The views from various bedrooms
changes over the years.

Through the neighbour’s window
a family sits down to a hot meal
and the steam clouds the glass.

Photo Credit drmakete lab on Unsplash

I won third place in the South Dublin Libraries Poetry Competition for a poem called Brú na Bóinne. This poem is about Newgrange. Here’s the poem to read.

Brú na Bóinne 

The mist rolls over the hills and stays
around the approach road. The sun is a pale disc. 
Light comes through in odd glimmers.

People are dressed like druids, carrying staffs, 
playing bodhrans and chanting. A druidess says 
she has cleaned the ley lines back to their old joy.

We go into the inner chamber
and the heat from this tomb warms me.
We could stay in here protected from the cold

and the harsh realities outside.
The mist subsides and light comes up 
the passage to consummate a new year.

A poem called Sunset at Finisterre was published in issue 9 of Impossible Archetype. Thanks to Mark Ward for publishing it. You can download a copy of the issue for free here https://impossiblearchetype.wordpress.com/9-2/

I found out that I was shortlisted in a haibun award. I got an honourable mention in the Genjuan International Haibun Competition 2021. This is quite a prestigious award.

Haibun is a combination of prose and haiku or tanka. You can check out the details of the award here https://hailhaiku.wordpress.com/

The haibun is called Village Clean Up and it will appear in The Haibun Journal in due course.

Delighted to receive a copy of Stories Under Every Rock anthology from the British Haiku Society. Haibun is a combination of prose and haiku/tanka poetry. It’s quite a difficult form to write in as it is so demanding. This is my first haibun in print. If you wish to get a copy of the anthology please get in touch with the British Haiku Society.