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Poetry Magnum Opus

West Clare, August (revision)


dedalus

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oldIrishFarmer.jpg

The wind, rippling across unruly fields,

is chill, not warm, on this summer night,

and it runs in a rush down the narrow road

between tangled bushes of unripe berries.

A tall shape appears, dark from the darkness,

a bicycle of the sturdy kind, its dim light dancing,

of a type much admired by bachelor farmers.

A song, a sweet tenor, separates from the air,

and the clear heart-breaking song of youth

arises: it is the thrush-like throat of Dinny Joe,

who was all of eighty-four when the sister died,

his housekeeper, last year or the year before?

I retreat without words into silent shadows

for I would not for the world interrupt him

as he cycles into darkness, legend and death.

Edited by Tinker

Drown your sorrows in drink, by all means, but the real sorrows can swim

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Magical, otherworldly. I love this one, Brendan, the whole thing. But these parts:

 

The wind that shakes the fields of grain

is chill, not warm, on summer nights,

and it runs in a rush down the narrow road

between tangled bushes of unripe berries.

A tall shape appears, dark from the darkness,

a bicycle of the sturdy kind, its dim light dancing,

a type much adored by bachelor farmers.

A song, a sweet tenor, separates from the air ...

 

... the thrush-like throat of Dinny Joe

... they really take me there.

 

Tony

Here is a link to an index of my works on this site: tonyv's Member Archive topic

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WOW! I love the face, so much to be seen there and this poem captures much of it beautifully. I hope you don't mind but I linked to this poem from the glossary word ekphrastic. It is a perfect example of the genre.

 

Out of curiosity, I would love to know if you actually knew this character or if you conjured the details just from looking at the painting. Of course it isn't important to the poem, it stands tall whether based on fact or imagination.

 

~~Tink

~~ © ~~ Poems by Judi Van Gorder ~~

For permission to use this work you can write to Tinker1111@icloud.com

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