Poetry in Bloom Digital Anthology

Going to
Powerscourt
is going
home

Contents
PETER B.
page 8
OLESKII B.
page 9
DANIELLE B.
page 11
VERONICA B. C.
page 13
VERONICA C.
page 14
ANNAMARIA C.
ELLEN C.
page 15
page 17
RACKER D.
page 19
HELEN D.
page 20
KEVIN G.
SARAH HOPE G.
JOAN H.
page 21
page 23
page 25

CIAN H.
page 27
ANDRONIKI H.
page 29
CATHERINE K.
page 31
EMILY K.
page 34
KATE K.
page 38
BERNARD K.
NAOMI C. K.
page 39
page 41
LUMONDT K.
page 42
SARAH L.
page 43
RHETT L.
VALERIE L.
BRIAN M.
page 44
page 46
page 47

DEBORAH M.
page 49
UNA M.
page 50
SILE M.
page 51
ALAN M.
page 53
JOAN O.
page 54
ISIS P.
O’GORMAN P.
page 56
page 57
ANNA R.
page 58
BERNADETTE R.
page 59
CATHERINE S.
CLAIRE S.
NICOLA S.
page 62
page 63
page 65

CAROLINE STEVENS T.
page 67
JEFF TIGCHELAAR
page 69
SARAH T.
page 72
CATEGORIES:
CATEGORY 1 - CHILDREN
CATEGORY 2 - TEENS
CATEGORY 3 - ADULTS

7

AGELESS FALLS
By Peter Bishton
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
Rushing Water
Rainbows Flash
TipToe Steps
Avoid the Splash!
Oh What Fun
Oh What Sport
Ageless Falls
At Powerscourt.
8

THE SEVEN WONDERS OF POWERSCOURT
By Oleskii Bodeichuk
Co. Dublin
Category 1
Powerscourt is a home to lots of nice places,
Where there are statues with ancient faces.
The wonderful building is noble and good,
There’s an Avoca shop full of presents and food.
There are many gardens of beautiful roses,
Where bees are dancing in different poses.
Everyone here loves watching the bees,
Collecting nectar from flowers on trees.
There is a nice pond called the Triton Lake,
With lilies that look like decorations on a cake.
The Japanese Gardens are planted with blossom,
In spring these look outstanding and awesome.
Quite further there is a high strong waterfall,
With cedars and pines in front standing tall.
9

The stream of the water that comes from a hill
Is making the river underneath always fill.
10

FORGET-ME-NOT
By Danielle Briody
Co. Meath
Category 2
Dense romantic woodland, choired by song wren and shrike,
Gushing rivers adorned with algae, inhabited by pike.
Amongst enchanting wild roses and magnificent oak,
Lies a tiny forget-me-not, new-born and just awoke.
She looks up to greet the sky but is restricted by looming jade branches,
She watches the leaves in envy as they carelessly begin their dances.
How she wishes she could move like that, without her short, constrictive stem,
If only she could twirl and fly around the rooftop just like them.
Why couldn’t she be a tall tree with freedom and a view?
Why couldn’t she be a vivid red instead of passive indigo blue?
Inevitably she wilts away, decomposing into the ground,
Her dreams threaten to evaporate as she disappears without a sound.
Her last few days, she spent looking down, if only she would see,
11

The product of her wishful thinking, the buds she helped to seed.
A community of forget-me-nots, a blue haze carpeting the way onto the stream,
No flower lives alone, they’re all a part of a team.
Though no majestic sycamore, her legacy was admirably great,
Her fortunate descendants won’t have to experience a similar fate.
Harvested by her lonely faith, grown with her reputable grace,
You’ll be remembered little forget-me-not, your resilience shall not waste.
12

WAITING
By Veronica Byrne Campbell
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
The ground is hard and frozen underneath
Bare piercing boughs reach their hands to heaven
Beseeching warmth and release
Release from this cold empty place
A hoar frost coats the ditch in a glaze of white
Sod crunches underfoot breaking silence
Nocturnal beings furtively stir
On this Hunger Moon night
Earth disrobed and sparse, air sharp and thin
Belies deep within the hollows, sparks of possibility
Deep within the stark, damp soil hope stirs
Germinating thoughts not yet ready to peer above the parapet of life
13

GOODBYE WINTER
By Veronica Casey
Co. Dublin
Category 3
Hope now rises on the horizon.
In this moment,
neither darkness nor daylight has the upper hand.
But slowly, light is stealing more seconds
and the balance is tipping in hope’s favour.
A time of rebirth, a watershed,
for life to be put back into our steps.
A door is opening
allowing space for joy in our hearts.
With a childlike enthusiasm,
we welcome Spring.
14

SEASONS CHANGE
By Annamaria Corrigan
Co. Dublin
Category 3
Amber golden russet hues,
every season something new,
gleaming chestnuts, acorns galore,
plenty for the squirrels store.
Rushing racing river high,
deep blue frosty winter sky,
skeletal branches shadows cast,
exuberant dogs running past.
The yellow of a primrose bud,
and indigo of a fairy hood,
nothing shouts spring like a bluebell wood,
the rhododendrons just awoke,
covering the walk with a purple cloak.
Sunlight slivers shining down,
on shallow water earthy brown,
picnic benches full once more,
children splashing on the shore,
15

the robin never far away,
hoping for some crumbs to stray,
singing from it's branch up high,
another season passes by.
16

NATURE BY COLOURS
By Ellen Cullen
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
The flowers are blooming,
Their colours are magic,
They dance in the wind,
They smile in the sun.
Flowers are powerful,
Full of love,
Full of hope,
Full of courage.
Red and pink and blue and yellows,
Colours all year round.
Trees will wave,
Trees will differ,
Some will have large branches,
Some will have small branches.
Tree will carry hope,
Hug a tree today.
Without nature we have nothing,
17

Nature is all around us.
Look around today,
Stop and look,
What do you see?
A world full of beautiful flowers.
Each will be different,
Each carries its own style,
Each is precious,
Each is priceless,
Each will grow day by day.
Without nature life would be dull.
Nature is precious to each one of us.
We need to water the plants,
Cut the bad leaves off,
Smile and nature will smile back at us.
We need to keep nature alive,
We need to show our love for flowers and trees.
Three cheers for nature.
Hip hip a Ray.
Hip hip a Ray.
Hip hip a Ray.
When we walk, look and smile at flowers and trees.
Be kind to nature at all times.
18

POWERSCOURTSHIP
By Racker Donnelly
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
A vale of bracken.
A veil of spray.
Avail of Powerscourt.
And play.
19

POWERSCOURT ROSE
By Helen Dwyer
Co. Dublin
Category 3
In the walled garden
In dewy light,
She stands proud
Amid shining leaves.
Vibrant pink
Like skymarks
Of the setting sun,
Petals soft
As a baby’s skin,
With perfume
So sweet.
She makes me feel
That maybe
God is a woman.
20

NATURE WALK
By Kevin Graham
Co. Dublin
Category 3
Tuck your phone in for a nap and wake
among wildflowers – goat’s beard,
cottongrass, milkwort, bittersweet –
the path counselling you like love
through the mind’s forest, its inclinations
and pitfalls giving over to the nattily
dressed goldfinch picking at thistle seed
in the undergrowth, uncaged as you are now
in the fresh air licking history, tousling
the leaves of alder, your elder where
it crouches shot with light, infused
with sound and touch, elevating
memory as female catkins play with
21

eternity, a corner flowering with winged
horses and pepperpot towers, private
ciphers winnowing into sitka deer and
movie sets, water gushing as you go in
over your head beyond the silence
of expectation where touchstone
lurks in caterpillar and butterfly,
root and stem, bole and blossom.
22

HELLOTROPE
By Sarah Hope Guppy
Co. Louth
Category 3
The flower blossoms,
The flower blooms.
Before you know it -
Oft’ too soon -
It’s work is done,
It’s job is over.
The bees that sip,
And dance, and hover,
Take from it
And pass it on.
Just like that -
They are gone.
I see a lesson
In the flower.
Do your work;
Show your power.
Come bursting forth -
23

Despite the pain -
Then fall to earth
Like purple rain.
24

POWERSCOURT WATERFALL (Where Glistening Waters
Flow)
By Joan Harrington
Co. Cork
Category 3
As the tumbling waters flow,
My love for Powerscourt grows.
Peace and tranquillity are abound
In these beautiful surrounds.
There is great beauty to behold
There to be enjoyed by young and old.
I could linger there all day long
Listening to the waterfall song.
Who painted this giant canvas with such care?
There for one and all to share.
It fills the senses with sight and sound,
I feel so uplifted my feet hardly touch the ground.
I have kept that picture in my mind,
It’s always there for me to find.
In days when I am feeling low,
I close my eyes and hear the waters flow.
The glistening waters soothes the soul,
Once again, I am feeling whole
25

Once again, I am feeling whole.
It calms the mind and softens the heart,
Such a wonderful piece of eternal art.
26

NATURE
By Cian Hallquinn
Co. Dublin
Category 3
The fields of our country I love to roam,
A part of our nation so close to home.
Walking through the park, with a gentle breeze blowing in my face,
It’s such a lovely feeling that can never be replaced.
As I pass all the big and beautiful trees,
While listening to the sound of birds and the buzz of bees.
As I approach the flower gardens, doesn’t it always look the part?
A big part of nature that I hold so close to my heart.
Flowers, nature’s most beautiful blessing,
To say I disliked the look of them, I’d really be messing.
From a sunflower to the rose,
The nicest smell of them all, inhaled through my nose.
For roses are red and violets are blue,
What would it be like on earth without nature like you?
The sun shining down on me hot as hell,
How many degrees it is, I’m finding it hard to tell.
The swans swimming in the lake, ready to spread their wings,
27

They are the most beautiful creatures that life brings.
Nature in Ireland, isn’t it just the best?
To have such amazing scenery in our nation, we are blessed.
28

GO NOW!
By Androniki Harris
Co. Dublin
Category 3
Go, go now
And tell them,
Tell them it’s happening soon.
Spring is arriving at Powerscourt,
Together we’ll meet at noon.
Tell them to gather by Triton Lake
And there wait,
For Spring’s beauty
Will make their heart’s ache.
Tell them to stand by the Waterfall,
To close their eyes
And imagine they see the Sika.
Then to open again,
For their eyes will sparkle
And will tell the tale
Of the Sika deer seen this day.
29

Tell them we shall gather in the borders,
We shall stroll the endless
Sweet streams of scented blooms
Becoming dizzy in the perfumed air.
Then fortify our hearts among the roses
In the Walled Garden just over there.
Chilly though it may be
We will band together once more in the Fall,
And thank Nature for her beauty,
A gift to one and all.
In Winter, She rests,
We thank her for her bounty.
We will court her again in Spring
When Nature’s happening will sing
And hearten at Powerscourt Gardens,
30

RETREAT
By Catherine Kavanagh
Co. Dublin
Category 3
I
Benburb, a calm village in Tyrone,
Not far from my childhood home,
Frequented by Prince Shane O’ Neill
Where he built his military needs
Upon the ruins of which Lord Wingfield
Built his ‘Bawne of Lyme and Stone’*
II
Partaking in the festival of ‘Benburb Sunday’
Held annually on the Priory grounds
I was unaware of the Wingfield legacy
Or that one day I would reside in Wicklow
So close to another of their great demesnes
That would surpass the beauty of Benburb
31

III
Exploring the site of the Wingfield castle
I morphed my spirit with the gods and gifts
Of shimmering trees and bright faced flowers
To ease my troubled teenage angst
IV
Mature now and settled in the ‘garden county’
I delight in the fortuity that locates me near
To this wondrous wooded estate where,
Bereft of my young giggling friends,
I contemplate alone the Wingfields’ Powerscourt
And the poetry it inspired in its Viscountess
V
Their family passage from Tyrone
From Benburb overlooking the Blackwater
Where anglers fish for the Black Boddagh
To Powerscourt as the trout descend
The waterfall roaring through the Dargle
The Glencree tributary tucking in behind.
32

VI
Fitting that the Glencree Centre
Would find its purpose near this sanctuary
To promote peace and reconciltion,
Echoing Benburb’s retreat centre of reflection
VII
But it’s to Powerscourt I now retreat,
For inspiration and succour
And like that Viscountess Sheila Wingfield
My thoughts evolve into poems and odes
As I become absorbed in the tranquillity
Of its natural habitat and glory
*From PLANTATIONS IN ULSTER, 1600–41 A COLLECTION OF DOCUMENTS Edited
by R.J. HUNTER
33

A NATURE'S PLEA FOR HELP
By Emily Keane
Co. Galway
Category 2
In the present all we can see
Are the birds, the butterflies, the bees and some trees.
All around us
Is covered in green
From the lush trees to the ferny leaves.
We hear the pitter patter of animals
Scampering across the plains
And we enjoy these sounds
But what happens when they fail?
What happens when we can no longer hear the rustling of the trees
Or feast our eyes upon the birds the butterflies and the bees?
When all around us starts to burn
We will be engulfed with buildings and skyscrapers
34

And then we will start to learn.
35

A CHILD'S INTERPRETATION OF NATURE
By Emily Keane
Co. Galway
Category 2
Through a child’s eyes
Nature is clear.
The sky is coloured blue
Without a doubt of fear.
Next grass follows with the simple colour green,
No complications or confusion can be seen.
The ocean is tricky, mixed with swirls of blue and green.
The child’s brow begins to furrow
And frown lines can be seen.
The birds and the butterflies
Are intricate and small.
Unlike the willowing trees
That stand upright and tall.
36

The child becomes impatient
As it has one last thing to do,
Its mental box of crayons
Has become very hard to use.
The child cannot put a finger on
The colour they are trying to describe,
It is powerful and strong
As if the colour is alive.
They come to realise
That there is no colour or hue
To describe someone as beautiful
And magical as you.
37

FLORA OF THE EAST
By Kate Keane
Co. Wicklow
Category 2
Solemn building standing tall,
honeysuckle, lavender, white lily sweet.
Flowers bloom some, but not all,
viola, orchid, snowdrops small and neat.
Grey stone brick and cobbled paths,
emerald grass flows akin to water downstream.
Sunshine falls through leaves of past,
the fountain flows idyllic, a calm dream.
Blooming slowly, flowers in sight ,
Mother nature is here,
If you just look right.
38

LIASON WITH SILENCE AT POWERSCOURT
GARDENS
By Bernard Kennedy
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
A long avenue guarded in meander by trees and view. A hill and valley, a resting horse and
mother’s strolling with the child.
A social distance kept in time mark three.
And through the courtyard, to the walled garden, Versailles, Schonbrunn and here through
golden leafed gates at Powerscourt the garden is.
Both essence and existence.
A masked visitor, and statues of Greek begin, and wisdom paths through shrubs of nursing
care embedded an ancient titles soul.
Pass the lake, with effusive flow from hinterland of water.
Spring to come as surgeons tend their trees cutting back branches of past growth.
And evening in lengthen mood
of light.
My father prunes with care to make it yield abundant fruit.
And then that view.
The sugar loaf, to sweeten the gardens end, and view the valley.
Nature hold a thousand sweetness
As covid hints at limited destruction.
39

Even the pollen holds the cure in many plants.
The avenue leads back from this
Picturesque escape
A Trappist delight
Video: Visit the Poetry Wall to listen to Bernard Kennedy read his poem.
40

WHERE THE SEA FORGETS TO BREATHE
By Naomi C. Kenny
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
Bring me to the beach tomorrow,
where the sea forgets to breathe.
In all the darkness, there you are,
Singing a lullaby to the treasure thieves.
It isn’t then that I lose myself,
It is after, it is before.
It is all of the between.
It is there when I see the glaring guardian of the sky
finding those who pretend to be lost –
Akin to when this person is happy in the old-fashioned model.
Travelling through waves,
seeing time doing what it does best,
breathing,
Curragh style.
41

MORE THAN JUST A GARDEN
By Lumondt Kritzinger
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
Senses filled
Bursting with anticipation,
Colours abound
No better emancipation
from Life;
Come every season
Bring your whole face,
To Powerscourt
No ordinary space
Such beauty,
Such grace
This is Life.
42

CYCLES
By Sarah Little
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
What happens when we go?
Do we fall down with the snow?
When the mud reclaims our teeth,
Does it turn them into sleet?
When our bones crack and crumble,
Does an earthquake start to rumble?
When we start our final sleep,
Do currents shift in ocean deeps?
When our lungs are flat and popped,
Do lava droplets fizz and hop?
When our souls leave our skin,
Is that how new life begins?
43

FUN AT POWERSCOURT WATERFALL
By Rhett Long
Dublin
Category 1
I am happy playing in the stream so clear,
safe from the torrent of water hurtling down that fills parents with fear.
Sometimes I make a little bridge with stones to try and stop the flow.
But the water rushes on without delay.
I wonder where will it go.
The water is deliciously cool.
It’s so refreshing on a hot summer’s day.
I see other children stepping from stone to stone.
Trying not to slip, they carefully make their way.
It’s a delicate balancing act on their own.
I look at coloured pebbles in the stream.
Some seem to have a magical gleam.
I take one up curiously.
A glint of silver sparkles in the sun.
Could there be treasure here?
44

I cannot tell but this place is simply ace.
I always have fun.
45

THE ROSE
By Valerie Long
Dublin
Category 3
There are many flowers in the garden
But the one I love the best is the rose
With its velvet like petals
It outblooms the rest.
They come with the first sign of Summer
And stay till the end of the year.
The rose can convey a message
To those we love so dear.
Each rose has a name that is famous.
Names we’ll not forget.
Their colours and perfumes are varied.
But a black rose no one’s found yet.
46

SWEET JULIET
By Brian Maguire
Co. Dublin
Category 3
A new day breaks, perfection awakes,
at the dawn of the day,
my sweet Juliet.
Flawless it seems, hidden in greens
awaiting our summer,
my sweet Juliet.
Beauty extremes in colour that gleams,
take the clouds from my dreams,
my sweet Juliet.
A break in the cloud,
you emerge from your shroud,
exposing your face
my sweet Juliet.
47

and soon very soon, out of the gloom,
together we will bloom,
my sweet Juliet.
48

BELLEPHRON
By Deborah Mahon
Co. Kildare
Category 3
The Sugar Loaf calls to me
From beyond Triton Lake.
Do I dare respond
Whilst Fame and Victory
Guard the gates?
49

CONNECTION
By Una Mannion
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
I’m full up, brimming with a mix of anxiety sorrow and upset along with those feelings I
have no name for. Emotions without a cause, without a word to describe or connect them to.
I start my walk,
My eyes wander without instruction, drawn to the bright light between the trees, dappled
dancing light turning greens to pure lime, moss and gold, shadows playing light tricks all
around.
A space within me opens,
Shoulders drop,
Breath slows, deepens, beauty quietens the havoc separateness and sorrow.
Connection arrives without effort,
I turn and let it be, I drink it in, quenching the thirst of my soul.
I lean into the old brown trunk of the great oak tree, and feel it’s strength, grounding me, I
draw its stability in unstable times.
I move on, dropping my coat of anxiousness and emerging into twisting paths of the river,
each turn more bliss that the last. Birdsong, water flowing leaves dancing fill my heart with
joy as I am as one with this beautiful place. I return to my car. Nothing has changed yet all
has changed in this hour.
50

FAGUS SYLVATICA
By Sile McManus
Co. Dublin
Category 3
The beech stands weeping
Seeping tears through its dark leaves
The planter long gone
51

BEAUTY AND THE EAST
By Sile McManus
Co. Dublin
Category 3
Graceful acres sweep
In reds and greens and colours
Of the in-between
52

THE WIND FIELD ZEPHYR
By Alan Murphy
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
What breeze once calmed that summer heat,
In swaying fields and fairy fort,
No Heavenly host had more delight,
a Daughter born, that summer night.
Finbar took you for his bride,
Intuition being his guide;
Enchanted years past like that breeze,
Love and joy traced by degrees,
Delight, now yours, share as you please.
53

THE MAGIC
By Joan O’Neill
Co. Dublin
Category 3
Adults and children alike feel the magic as around the fountain they peer!
The River Walk displaying Autumnal colours
Eclipsed only by the Crystal Waterfall spilling down
And the dewy mist surround,
Vivid the colours, evocative scents. Remind me of memories of yesteryear.
This Majestic Estate where Happy Memories are made
Takes a place in the heart of all those who visit,
Gazing in delight at the Magnificent Blooms on Parade
Bursting with colour and fragrance these gardens delight.
Painters, walkers, assorted visitors smiles shining bright.
The Blushing Bride glowing in the beautiful surround of nature
Adding to the memories and history ensconced in every feature.
Powerscourt, your rich history and beauty is entwined in the fabric
Of each golden thread of memories fantastic,
To be shared and passed down as
54

The most precious of Gowns.
As each day invites another memory to be made
In the lush, beautiful gardens
Or waterfall serenade,
Thank you for your mystery beauty and peace,
Truly the essence of making the world a magical place.
55

MOTHER NATURE
By Isis Prein
Co. Dublin
Category 1
In the forest where insects and animals dwell,
Birds are chirping and squirrels nibble acorns.
Listen, the waterfall, I hear clear as a bell!
The water flowing down the cliff,
Look, see the white butterflies, flapping their wings in the sky overhead,
Oh such beautiful things!
Mother Nature creates flowers and plants for us all.
I’m so glad we went to Powerscourt after all.
56

POWERSCOURT WATERFALL
By O’Gorman Properties
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
The water that keeps on giving.
The rock that keeps on living.
The spray on our faces
reminding us of places
that will rest in our minds
during these crazy times.
57

ONE LITTLE BUTTERFLY
By Anna Reilly
Co. Dublin
Category 3
Watching a delicate white butterfly fluttering in the sky gives me hope,
lifts my spirits, lights my way through the dark, lonely, vulnerable depths of my grief.
Flying so free, so effortlessly, so tenderly.
As I watch her floating along I join her flight.
My eyes dance with her, raising my view upwards,
out of the darkness and into the bright, bright light of this one fleeting,
precious moment of pure, natural beauty.
Hope, freedom, purity, joy,
fragile and delicate yet so real,
right here,
right now.
58

MEMORIES IN BLOOM
By Bernadette Ryan
Category 3
I remember many summers
As a little Dublin girl
Being brought by my lovely parents
To this magical floral whirl.
Myself and my smaller brother,
Together hand in hand,
Tumbling down to hidden hollows
Laughing loudly as we’d land.
While Mam and Dad would beckon us
Into rambling walks and trails
With pops of colours and secret views
Our amazement never failed.
Little secret gardens.
Me being ‘Alice in Wonderland’
59

Expecting ‘Mad Hatter’ to invite me to tea
With a cup and saucer in my hand.
On through the delicate Japanese gardens
With Azaleas, Magnolias and Cherry Blossoms.
Running to stop on an arched, vibrant red bridge.
Gazing at fish in the stream at the bottom.
And on our return once again,
Oh I’d long to see that magnificent man.
Kneeling at home in his lake with powerful lungs
Blowing water sky-high, as only he can.
And I’d gaze off up in the distance
To the peak of the Sugarloaf Mountain
And wonder if it really tasted like it’s name
While I heard the whoosh of a fountain.
These are all my memories of so long ago
As I’m now a middle aged gran.
My lovely dad passed away a few months ago
And decades, like a flash in a pan.
60

But Powerscourt Gardens were always a stable.
An escape to a fantasy world.
Imaginations of nature, all just for us
Whether adults, or little boys or girls.
And as I’m writing this poem it’s a little bittersweet
For I can close my eyes in this very room
And remember the times with lovely dad long ago.
Us rambling through gardens in bloom.
61

MAGICAL TRAIL
By Claire Scanga
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
Fig, apple or rose trees,
All dancing around,
In the ethereal breeze,
On the magical ground,
Listen to their chimes,
Do you know what it is?
All singing rhymes,
Butterflies, birds and poppies,
In the enchanted woods, alone,
I lost myself continuously,
Along the way, the statue made of stone,
Showed me the secret path to beauty.
62

NATURE'S ART
By Nicola Sedgewick
Co. Wicklow
Category 3
When my soul
is lost again,
I search for solace
in the rain.
Soothing skies
are dripping slow
and stillness follows
as I go
Into the soft
September shades
of sylvan scents
and forest glades.
I walk the verdant velvet field
and sense a sorrow loose and yield.
A sigh escapes the depth of me
and I can feel restority.
The time is now and mine alone,
63

My sanctuary earth and stone.
As I turn from
whence I came
I see anew,
I’m not the same.
A tiny spark
ignites my heart
And I thank God
for nature’s art.
64

YOUR WEB OF FICTION
By Keelin Sheppard
Co. Dublin
Category 2
Yours is a web of fiction
Whispers of a symmetrical spider over my head
Pleading with your many eyes
You wind your weepy web
Entrails of a silver year
A silver dress, in which I may dance
No question of who, or when
Only an unfaltering moulded desire
That I bundle, like you spider eyes
Still your tongue is salty
With a storm of monsters though blind
Shame, reveals
That in each smouldering hug of cuts to the knee
65

Your speckled cheeks may yet be clean
Roasted overhead
Bodies of old accidents
And better yet, lips born before the dawn
So I place the red pill on my nightstand
And books half read, in my hard hand
The little squads of a life band
That some explosion may withstand
Perfectly hopeless I lie in bed
Perfectly shameless, you wind your web
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DAZZLED
By Caroline Stevens Taylor
Co. Wexford
Category 3
The open moon and shaded sun
Ignite their light on rhodadendron
Blooms so large, sparks pure joy
Winding path cannot destroy
the peace, the calm, the slow walked pace
Leads me to the flaming acer, vibrant, gentle, so serene
Fit for emporers and japenese queens
Gentle waters babble and flow
Spring to life, nature’s hedgerows
Butterflies, bees and ladybirds
Enticing all the boys and girls, to pepper pot Tower, such a thrill
Climbing up and looking out
Prince and princesses lark about
Keeping safe this precious place
That’s filled with beauty, filled with grace
A flush of roses, assault my senses
Fragrant perfume, no pretences
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Colourful blooms, delicate but strong
Lift the gloom as does the bird song
Breathe in the power that it courts
Get lost in the wonder, dazzled by it all!
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POWERSCOURT, IN BLOOM
By Jeff Tigchelaar
West Virginia, USA
Category 3
1.
We set out from Summerhill
to cross the road—to finally cross
this from the list: to make our way up
the long lane to the esteemed estate, this
strange place, strange
in that we’d heard so much
but never seen its face.
Our nearest neighbor.
2.
She’d crossed the sea to see me after all.
She’d come to Enniskerry and I wanted my wife-to-be
to be impressed. So: Powerscourt
it was. And out we went. Onward. Upward.
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And even if we hadn’t—
hadn’t made it here, hadn’t even set forth—
the name alone would exist, and impress. The mere
look and sound of it. All that it suggests.
Powerscourt.
3.
The walk was long but led to all
we’d longed for: the sweet view of Sugarloaf,
the coast’s greatest mountain; but also
wonders of lower grandeur: water
arcing, water
falling, water unfaltering,
water lilies, their pads on the ponds,
their purple-pinks and pinkish-whites
beneath a shocking spread of sky
blocked only in spots by palm fronds.
Mist and moss affixed
to statues and rocks alike.
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Garden, garden
and far more garden.
Stick to the stone path. See
petals in a fountain.
4.
But then, just like that,
the sun was considering the moon,
letting it take its turn. We too felt
we might be done for the day.
All of this would still be here tomorrow—
the blooming earth
like young love’s wandering mind.
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CLEAN AIR WEEK
By Sarah Treacy
Co. Clare
Category 2
Clean the air,
Save the bear.
Walk to school,
Or even car pool.
Hop on the train,
Save us the strain.
Rubbish in the bin,
Or else it’s a sin.
Cut down on the coal,
So we can reach our goal!!
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