A chuirfidh
an cailín siar is aniar
ar an léibheann
os comhair na bhfuinneog mór
ag caint go gealgháireach
ar an nguthán
an ghaoth lastall di is na seanóirí
nach ndearna machnamh ar a mbás
go dtí seo
ise an fíréan
a chuirfidh i dtailte na gaoithe iad
cé nach bhfuil eolas fós aici
ar dheasghnátha adhlactha
Who will bury
The girl back and forth on the terrace in front of the big windows, talking radiantly on the phone, beyond her the wind, and the elders who had never thought of their death until now. She is the just one who will bury them in the lands of the wind, though she doesn’t yet know the burial rites.
Annála
Sna hannála
feicimid na sinsir
cloisimid an t-éan ag labhairt
ó chúil na coille ag labhairt
faoin argain
sna hannála
tagann Cathal Crobhdhearg
trí áiteanna nach bhfuil ann a thuilleadh
ag creachadh
is an slua ag teitheadh roimhe
go Béal Átha Conga
áit a raibh ‘na coraí lena gceiseanna
lán de pháistí a bádh’
Thug Cathal na ba
abhaile leis
Annals
In the annals we see our forebears, we hear the bird speaking from a nook of the forest, speaking of destruction. In the annals Cathal Red-Hand comes through places that no longer exist, plundering, with the people fleeing to Béal Átha Conga, where ‘the wicker-woven weirs were full of children who had drowned’. Cathal took the cows home with him.
Tharat
Faoin mbáisteach
tagann an bheirt
faoi mhascanna dorcha
ag gabháil tharat
nó thar an duine atá i do thaise
i gcoinne rud éigin
rud éigin nach bhfaca tú riamh
Past you
Under the rain the two come in dark masks, going past you or past your double, to meet something, something never seen by you.
Melbourne-based Colin Ryan is a regular contributor to our poetry section. Previous poetry by Colin has been published by Coiscéim the Dublin-based Irish-language publisher in the book Corraí na Nathrach (2016).
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