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Kerry Hardie, with “Inishmaan” and other poems from, WHERE NOW BEGINS
Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. This week we introduce four poems by Kerry Hardie, from her latest collection, Where Now Begins. Kerry generously allowed us to use lines from this collection on our January 8th post, in the week of the attack on the United States Capitol, when we paused our usual program. We are very pleased to share the following poems, together with audio recordings by the poet, that speak eloquently of things and people observed, of…
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Eileen Acheson reads “I Wonder” and Other Poems
Whether a reader concurs with Chaucer’s view of Aprille as inspirational or agrees with Eliot’s claim that it “is the cruelest month,” April is National Poetry Month in the USA and April 29, 2021, is National Poetry Day in Ireland. So, we begin the month by introducing four poems by Eileen Acheson from her chapbook, I Wonder. In her lyrics, Acheson celebrates life: her personal experience embeds itself in Nature. She honors sod and rivers, branches and trees. Colors–purples, yellows, and brown–are her birthright. Her videos of the poems she reads for Trasna celebrate her world. In addition to writing, Acheson serves as Spoken Word curator for Clonmel Applefest and…
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Dairena Ní Chinnéide ~ “The Day the Blaskets were Nicked” and other poems
For the month of March we have been showcasing writers and writing who have engaged with the Irish language. On the final post for this month Trasna is pleased to share the work of poet, Dairena Ní Chinnéide, a bilingual poet from the West Kerry Gaeltacht of Corca Dhuibhne. Ní Chinnéide here shares poems in both their original Irish and in English translations, and as a special treat, two of her poems in audio read by herself and accompanied by renowned guitarist, Steve Cooney. The two audio tracks are from an album of her poetry set to music, which will be digitally released later this year. This is therefore a special pre-release of…
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Doireann Ní Ghríofa ~ “Under a Fridge Magnet is a Photo of Grandmother as a Schoolgirl”
Throughout the month of March, Trasna is featuring Irish language writers. This week, we are pleased to share the work of Doireann Ní Ghríofa. Included in this post is a video of her poem: “Under a Fridge Magnet is a Photo of Grandmother as a Schoolgirl.” The poem is read in Irish by the poet, and includes the English translation. Doireann Ní Ghríofa, an essayist as well as a poet, recently won the Irish Book of the Year 2020 for ‘A Ghost in the Throat’, her prose debut. Part essay, part memoir, ‘A Ghost in the Throat’ recounts Ní Ghríofa’s connection with the eighteenth-century poet Eibhlín Dubh Ní Chonaill, and her masterpiece, “Caoineadh…
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Aguisín, (“Afterword”) a Reading by Aifric Mac Aodha
Throughout the month of March, Trasna is featuring Irish language writers. This week, we are pleased to share the work of Aifric Mac Aodha, an accomplished Irish-language poet. We are also pleased to share the spoken word, two readings, each in Irish and English, by the poet. For many Americans, Aifric Mac Aodha’s reading may be your first encounter with this rich and ancient language. As evident from the translations of her poetry, there is beauty here, not just of language, but of images: “But don’t be so hard on my youth,/ that I loved fire and not the fireplace./ Time I started over and like Cúchulainn/ went to war…
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“Ardmore,” and Other Poems
Frank Farrelly This week Trasna is pleased to feature Irish poet, Frank Farrelly, who is based in Waterford city. Frank’s poems here are from his first full collection, The Boiler Room, and reflect on childhood, place and a growing towards an understanding of the complexities of life and living. The poem, Against the Clock, brings us to our current situation, living through the COVID pandemic, and here Farrelly brings a mature understanding of the qualities that might help us to bear and to “cheat this crimping of our time”. Ardmore for my parents Uprooted once again, this time south, you leave your home, your friends, drive for hours through lonely hills, darkened towns, your…
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“Take Me out to the Ballgame,” and Other Poems
K.T. Slattery This week Trasna is pleased to feature the work of K.T. Slattery. A native of Tennessee, who now lives in the West of Ireland, Slattery is a familiar with Transatlantic crossings. “My biggest regret / Moving across the wide ocean- / I missed that glorious day / Red Sox World Champions!!!!” We commend Slattery not just for her image-rich poetry, but for her good taste in rooting for the Red Sox. This fall, Hedgehog Press is publishing her debut poetry collection which will include “Take Me out to the Ballgame. Take Me out to the Ballgame Scorecard balanced on knees Cross pencil in hand Me next to you With my own scorecard Looking over your…
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Nollaig Shona Daoibh – Merry Christmas to All
From: “A Christmas Childhood,” Patrick Kavanagh (1943) “Outside the cow-house my motherMade the music of milking;The light of her stable-lamp was a starAnd the frost of Bethlehem made it twinkle. A water-hen screeched in the bog,Mass-going feetCrunched the wafer-ice on the pot-holes,Somebody wistfully twisted the bellows wheel. My child poet picked out the lettersOn the grey stone,In silver the wonder of a Christmas townland,The winking glitter of a frosty dawn.” The above is an excerpt from Patrick Kavanagh’s “A Christmas Childhood.” The poem was first published in The Irish Press on the 24th of December, 1943. Photo by Christine O’Connor One Response to Nollaig Shona Daoibh – Merry Christmas to…
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CUMMISKEY ALLEY New and Selected Poems by Tom Sexton
Former Alaskan poet Laureate Tom Sexton’s latest volume of poetry is “Cummiskey Alley.” The collection is named after Lowell’s first Irishman, Hugh Cummiskey, who walked from Boston to Lowell with a group of Irish laborers. Cummiskey and many other Irish labors dug miles of canals in Lowell, and helped birth the nation’s first industrial revolution. The following poems explore the American experiences of immigrants, largely Irish, and their descendants. The book is available from loompress.com or amazon.com Amerikay, 1832, a Letter When your ship sails into Boston Harbor stay with those who are walking to Lowell By road or along the bank of the canal that goes from Charlestown to…
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The belated discovery of a role model: Nessa O’Mahony on Eavan Boland
The month of November, with its decreasing hours of daylight and lengthening nights, offers an opportunity to turn inwards. It is traditionally a month in Ireland when we remember those who have passed on, indeed the 1st and 2nd of November are known respectively as All Saints and All Souls days. On Trasna our focus this month will be on Irish writers who have passed on and who are remembered by contemporary writers and scholars. Our first post this month is by poet Nessa O’Mahony who writes of the influence of the poet Eavan Boland (1944 – 2020) on her own development as a writer, which led to her subsequently…