Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Seamas Carraher- A Poem

THE PALACE OF LOVE
for Niall Quinn, on his journey

i’m walking in my dream
through a fabulous palace
of touch

the courtyard hums
with the
electricity of longing

danger dances
outside
the walls

but
i am not this old man now,
my skin is fresh
and the cells
of my mind
shiver with newness

the nightmare has ended
and i’ve woken up new!

only i sleep
and this world
is a dream
and in my dream
down a long corridor
my mind stills tells me
“you must...you should...you better...”

and in that dark prison
all the dead men of my youth
hang from twisted ropes
from light fittings and ceilings

but here
my skin is fresh
my cells tingle
with the electricity of life

and everything is lit
with the ache of longing.

In my dream
only my body can speak
its words lit with wonder
their tongues spitting fire

this must be a language
that knows fear
but not war

so i lay down

i lay down deep
inside
and i am a river
that can never be stopped

a dance of light and touch
and desire
of mingling and miracle

both body and soul.

Now my hands
are like birds
and they fly through the rooms
of your soul
their wings beating
beating

i calm your fears
in the only way i know
and we are lost forever
in this place
we have somehow
never forgotten.

In the Palace of Touch
i am not this old man
with a heart of stone.

i am sensuous
and music
and my limbs are supple.

my words are lips
see how they swell with desire!

my words are a river
like rain or water
see how they soar like birds!

And i am always
travelling
endlessly
across the emptiness
to meet you here.

i wake.

And the room
is filled with birds falling
to the floor

and the news is harsh and peels
the wallpaper from the walls

and i am heavy and cold

and i reach
for
a
cigarette.


Séamas Carraher was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1956. He lives on the Ballyogan estate, in south County Dublin, at present.
Recent publications include poems in Carcinogenic Poetry, Naphalm & Novacain, The Camel Saloon, ditch, Bone Orchard Poetry, Istanbul Literary Review and Pemmican. Previously his work has been published in Left Curve (No. 13, 14 & 20), Compages, Poetry Ireland Review, & the Anthology of Irish Poetry.

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