THE KILKENNY INVOLVEMENT CENTRE AND RECOVERY COLLEGE SOUTH EAST HAVE PRODUCED A WONDERFUL ANTHOLOGY OF POETRY AND PROSE. ‘WHITE TWINE AND OLD SUITCASES’ COMPRISES OF 128 PAGES AND 60 AUTHORS AND IS COMPLEMENTED BY SOME WONDERFUL PHOTOS AND ARTWORK BY TASK CAMERA CLUB. IT IS PRINTED BY MODERN PRINTERS. IT IS DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED READING FOR ALL LOVERS OF POETRY. THE KILKENNY OBSERVER IS HAPPY TO RUN THE POEMS EACH WEEK TO PROMOTE CREATIVE WRITING AND TO HIGHLIGHT THESE WONDERFUL CENTRES. AVAILABLE IN ALL KILKENNY BOOK SHOPS. €10
One
There is, in all honesty,
a Great Sadness within.
Buddhists speak of Oneness.
One morning, walking to work,
a bullock in a trailer
outside the butcher’s shop.
His eyes met mine through a slit,
reminded me of those trains;
their eyes looking out.
Saw myself in him,
but that was only the beginning
Ran into the chapel to escape
people’s stare: kids on their way to school,
deliverymen, shopkeepers.
A woman crying in the street.
Once inside, kneeling in a pew,
this pain seeping through muscle,
tissue and bone —
a familiar pain.
On the walls, more suffering:
images of a man humiliated,
again and again —
we do it so well.
Could not get this out of my head,
cried incessantly,
and later, beat the bed
then buried it, again.
Janis Woodgate
White Twine
Wrapped up neatly
Away from plain view,
I hide my precious memories, true feelings and
My love from you
In the past, once bitten,
Twice shy
Hesitant in sharing the softer side of myself with you,
I display a tough exterior on view
White twine and an old suitcase,
Each memory, true feelings and love
Wrapped carefully, metaphorically speaking, with white twine,
Placed in an old suitcase, in my mind,
Forever filed away,
Never to see the light of day,
White twine and an old suitcase
Where the essence of me is destined to stay.
Mary Woods
The Butts
We’re from part of the town knows as the Butts
They say to live here you got to be nuts
That’s always said from people afar
Sure they don’t know us or know who we are
We’re caring we’re passionate yes some of us loud
We know we’re great people and all of us proud
We’re sports men and women and we’re from the Butts
Put us out on the playing fields and we’ll show you guts
Like all great places there are one or two flaws
But they won’t deter us or prevent our cause
Most of the time we try to achieve
To set good examples for our youth to believe
A lot of the stories about us are wrong
Articles in papers that didn’t belong
Negative stories with a negative view
It’s really annoying when most are untrue
Some amazing families came from this place
We still hear the surnames or see that face
The Ramsbottoms, the Falseys, the Cliffords, the Doyles
The Dunphys, the Clowrys, the Rowes and the Boyles
The Murphys, the Phelans I could go on, the Dewberrys, the Hayes
Quigleys and Long
Singers and dancers some with degrees
Boys in bellbottoms and girls flashing knees
We’re creative we’re talented and we’re not ones to boast
To the people of the Butts it’s to you that we toast
As kids we were described as cheeky or pups
But now with all Ireland medals or McCalmont cups
There is nothing we can’t do when we stand side by side
Because we’re from the Butts and it fills us with pride
So if you’re from the Butts then let it be known
And remember our motto
LOOK AFTER YOUR OWN
Paul Clifford
