Ballyrankin

by Catherine Ronan

Bricks expand their lungs

Echoing the cries of loss

Crows feast in bedrooms

Toothless memories fall

From crackling rafters

 

Pianos groan in mistuned disbelief

Rocking horses gallop with fire

In their hand – painted eyes

Embers billow revenge

In one spark of Molly’s hair

 

I crawl through your skin

To the before and after

Of slow tomorrows

 

Reproduced with kind permission of the author. This poem was composed in Poetry as Commemoration workshops held at Cork City Library in September, 2022. The workshops were led by poet Thomas McCarthy.

 

Themes

1921 , animals , Big House , Body , Domestic Sphere , English Language , Memory , Natural World , Rural , Violence , War of Independence , Wexford , Workshop Poem