Mick McGann-Jones

Elevenish

Over the road,
a dog barks 
rounding up the tipper truck – again.

Over the roof, 
martins chase
scolding each other.

Beyond the hedge,
a car door thumps,
tyres grip on gravel.

At the front of the house,
letters – smack
on the hallway floor.

Along the road,
a tractor splutters,
leaving a tell-tale trail of turf.

Two fields away,
a lonesome rooster gets it wrong – again;
still doesn’t know midday from dawn.

Coffee is stirred,
quiet rain arrives,
the tipper driver takes his dog in;
the martins swoop away to their nests;
the old rooster – hurries off to his coop.

Mick McGann-Jones is a former orchestral viola player with the BBC in UK, whose varied musical career took him through a diversity of pop and rock bands before turning to music education as his primary focus. He relocated to Kerry in 2004 and has become a regular contributor at poetry and arts events across County Kerry and beyond. His poems have been published in a number of Irish Journals including, Boyne Berries, Skylight 47, Poets Meet Painters and A New Ulster.