In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Death of a Field
  • Paula Meehan (bio)
Keywords

Paula Meehan, Fingal County

The field itself is lost the morning it becomes a siteWhen the Notice goes up: Fingal County Council—44 houses

The memory of the field is lost with the loss of its herbs

Though the woodpigeons in the willowThe finches in what’s left of the hawthorn hedgeAnd the wagtail in the elderSing on their hungry summer song

The magpies sound like flying castanets

And the memory of the field disappears with its flora:Who can know the yearning of yarrowOr the plight of the scarlet pimpernelWhose true colour is orange?

The end of the field is the end of the hidey holesWhere first smokes, first tokes, first gropesWere had to the scentless mayweed

The end of the field as we know it is the start of the estateThe site to be planted with houses each two or three bedroomNest of sorrow and chemical, cargo of joy

The end of dandelion is the start of FlashThe end of dock is the start of PledgeThe end of teazel is the start of ArielThe end of primrose is the start of BrilloThe end of thistle is the start of BounceThe end of sloe is the start of OxyactionThe end of herb robert is the start of BrassoThe end of eyebright is the start of Persil

Who amongst us is able to number the end of grassesTo number the losses of each seeding head? [End Page 40]

    I’ll walk out onceBarefoot under the moon to know the fieldThrough the soles of my feet to hearThe myriad leaf lives green and singingThe million million cycles of being in wing

That—before the field become map memoryIn some archive of some architect’s screenI might possess it or it possess meThrough its night dew, its moon white caulIts slick and shine and its profligacyIn every wingbeat in every beat of time [End Page 41]

Paula Meehan

PAULA MEEHAN, poet and playwright, lives in her native Dublin. She has published six critically acclaimed collections of poetry, most recently Painting Rain, from Carcanet Press and Wake Forest University Press. She has received many awards for her work including the 2015 O’Shaughnessy Award for Irish Poetry. She is Ireland Professor of Poetry 2013–2016.*

First appearance in Ecotone.

...

pdf

Share