An Echo of Ocean

A dark November evening
in the house of my grandmother
sharp skeletons of trees
scraped and creaked,
scratching window panes.
Folded within her old shawl,
I sat by the range, turf glowing red
behind the black—toothed grimace
of the grate. Around me, they murmured,
weaving the endless web of scuffles, scandals,
schedules of funerals, of news from those
in Australia and America
and the lives of locals, of old friends and enemies,
centuries of our blood mingled, mixed
in this rough, rocky soil.
I nestled further into my nook
sombre orphan
pressed my cheek to her chest
until all I heard was the steady, sturdy
thump of her heart, the ebb and flow
of ceaseless tide, an echo
crashing through cliff caves.

Doireann Ní Ghríofa

Doireann’s poems have appeared in many literary journals in Ireland and internationally, most recently in France, Mexico, USA, Scotland, and England. The Arts Council of Ireland has twice awarded her a literature bursary (2011 and 2013). She was a winner of the Wigtown Gaelic poetry contest, the Scottish National Poetry Prize in 2012, shortlisted for the Jonathan Swift Award, and Comórtas Uí Néill both in 2011 and 2012. She was selected for the Poetry Ireland Introductions Series. Doireann’s Irish collections Résheoid and Dúlasair are both published by Coiscéim. Her pamphlet of English poems, Ouroboros, has recently been selected for the longlist of The Venture Award (UK).