The Retreat

roggernaut | Short fiction and poetry | August 1, 2009

Here is some new Irish poetry by one of our skills exchange writers

As I try to Speak these words aloud,
you know there’s no reason to wait behind,
you know I’ve tried and failed again a thousand other times
I’m shackled in this dusty cave,
I’ve become too blind to light
I’m holding up my head too long,
I’m tired day and night
You sang from the stands of time,
and drove the crowds to the streets,
when I was just a slave to another’s life,
when death and I danced cheek to cheek
A view of beauty a second too long is a view of destruction taking hold
I heard you whisper musical poems as aging came to unfold
But cracks and crevices don’t show a sign of defeat,
they’re just soft ways of telling you there’s no one left to deny and to meet
but you look fine on top of this, you never did give in
whilst me, I’m just a broken string, too cheap, too old, too thin
I didn’t have to lie to bring you here, but I chose to anyway
I could have used a thousand other lines, but something told me it had to be this way

Mark Kelleher