Anne Kenny
Out of Darkness
Sometimes I pull you out of darkness
and try to see beyond that last night.
Clothing your bones in a new suit,
I listen once again to old stories:
the corpse who sprang to life at his wake;
a priest's head rolling down to ditches.
You breathed life into a homeland
you left behind.
Another tug away from that old carapace
brings you blast-furnace red in dirty overalls,
a week's wages your recompense
and one too many in the company of friends.
And then you call me to inspect the rows
of gleaming vegetables laid out upon a bench
and stand back always proud
of all you've made.
I hold you close before you fall back
shedding memories, leaving us behind
and walking through white walled rooms
where I appear as a stranger.
and try to see beyond that last night.
Clothing your bones in a new suit,
I listen once again to old stories:
the corpse who sprang to life at his wake;
a priest's head rolling down to ditches.
You breathed life into a homeland
you left behind.
Another tug away from that old carapace
brings you blast-furnace red in dirty overalls,
a week's wages your recompense
and one too many in the company of friends.
And then you call me to inspect the rows
of gleaming vegetables laid out upon a bench
and stand back always proud
of all you've made.
I hold you close before you fall back
shedding memories, leaving us behind
and walking through white walled rooms
where I appear as a stranger.
Page(s) 25
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