Liam Ó Muirthile
Lament of The Demons
for Tony MacMahon
It’s the wind-driven swell of the sea in your music
that swells our sails with the power of demons
with every breaker that threshes upon us,
the beating currents that erode our skin.
That magic brightness that phosphoresces
on a night of full moon while you are feeling
the accordion’s ribs between your hands,
your fingers undoing the box’s buttons.
We no longer care where our voyage takes us:
just that this playing goes on for ever.
There’s nothing now between us and death
but our hearts in full sail beneath the canvas.
In the coves of our ears the seals’ session
and the great whales’ keening in the sea-flood.
Flay off us what flesh still covers our bones
as the east wind bares the sand of the beach
When our jig is played through and the darkness has fallen
our demons will steal away. All will be calm.
that swells our sails with the power of demons
with every breaker that threshes upon us,
the beating currents that erode our skin.
That magic brightness that phosphoresces
on a night of full moon while you are feeling
the accordion’s ribs between your hands,
your fingers undoing the box’s buttons.
We no longer care where our voyage takes us:
just that this playing goes on for ever.
There’s nothing now between us and death
but our hearts in full sail beneath the canvas.
In the coves of our ears the seals’ session
and the great whales’ keening in the sea-flood.
Flay off us what flesh still covers our bones
as the east wind bares the sand of the beach
When our jig is played through and the darkness has fallen
our demons will steal away. All will be calm.
Translated by Bernard O'Donoghue
Page(s) 55-56
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