The whiskey on your breathCould make a small boy dizzy;But I hung on like death:Such waltzing was not easy. We romped until the pansSlid from the kitchen shelf;My mother’s countenanceCould not unfrown itself. The hand that held my wristWas battered on one knuckle;At every step you missedMy right ear scraped a buckle. You beat time […]
About to sit down with my half-pint of Guinness
I was magnetized by a remote phosphorescence
and drawn, like a moth, to the darkened back room
where a pool-table hummed to itself in the corner.
If you chance to strike a gathering of half-a-dozen friends
/ When the drink is Highland whusky or some chosen Border blends,
/ And…
‘Set ‘em up, kid’ was your usual cry
/ as you sauntered through the door
/ with a look in your eye and…
The mug comes steaming, pulled / from the gasping dishwasher / in mid-monsoon, a thick white saucer / like a…
My mum is on a high bed next to sad chrysanthemums.
/ ‘Don’t bring flowers, they only wilt and die.’
/ I am scared…
The Silver Tassie
/
/ Go bring to me a pint o wine,
/ And fill it in a silver tassie;
/ That I may drink, before…
Now mirk December’s dowie face
/ Glowrs owr the rigs wi sour grimace,
/ While, thro’ his minimum of space,
/ …
A hunner funnels bleezin’, reekin’,
/ Coal an’ ironstane, charrin’, smeekin’;
/ Navvies, miners, keepers, fillers,
/ Puddlers, rollers, iron millers;
/ Reestit, reekit,…
Ac mi ffrwydrith
yn llond cwpan o rosyn gwlithog
sy’n troi ei hwyneb llyfn tua’r llif
ac yn sugno’n hy o lygad y storm.
Úr mansöng þriðju rímu
/
/ 1
/ Opnast munnur enn á ný,
/ ómar þunnir líða um skolt.
/ Þó ég kunni að koðna á því
/ kveð ég…
