Poet's Corner: Seamus Heaney

debriswoman made me aware of this page of 10 classic (Western) poems put into short films/videos. Here is my favourite. I can't figure out how to embed from vimeo but here is the link.



Lightenings viii by Seamus Heaney

The annals say: when the monks of Clonmacnoise
Were all at prayers inside the oratory
A ship appeared above them in the air.

The anchor dragged along behind so deep
It hooked itself into the altar rails
And then, as the big hull rocked to a standstill,

A crewman shinned and grappled down the rope
And struggled to release it. But in vain.
‘This man can’t bear our life here and will drown,’

The abbot said, ‘unless we help him.’ So
They did, the freed ship sailed, and the man climbed back
Out of the marvellous as he had known it.

My poem: blessings on an early spring walk: gen

Title: blessings on an early spring walk
Rating: Gen
Poetic form: English sonnet

a wisp of smoke piques curiosity
a gift of autumn on the cusp of spring
the spirit wakes, the mind shuns paucity
and wonders what more boons this walk will bring

a pale half-moon in the afternoon sky
incongruous, chalked smudge on even blue
a prayer of thanks for all wonders passed by
and under and around and, blindly, through

then coming down on the one, a hitched stride
along the cracked back of a concrete snake
a funk motif which catches too much to glide
the blessing of hymn to incense and ache

a trio which elevate tedious
and make now more than next and previous

All of Agatha: The Labours of Hercules and Taken at the Flood

On my march through Agatha Christie's ouvre, I am in 1948.

The Labours of Hercules. 12 Hercule Poirot stories, each one aligned with one of the labours of the mythological Hercules. It was a slog. I think it was mainly me not being in the mood for slightly twee stories.

Taken at the Floor. I have to give it to ol' Aggie for the title. This was another Hercule Poirot story. Lots of mistaken identity/false identity and 'is X really dead?' Also, a lot of that people expecting to inherit and then not inheriting. ALSO, a supremely toxic relationship triangle. Someone really should've mentioned to Aggie that trying to strangle someone isn't as romantic and endearing as she thinks it is. But horses for courses. And the twists were decent. And it deals with the aftermath of WWII.

So I realize I missed some of the short stories which were published in the 1940's so I am going back and checking a few off my list for May (or making certain I've read them) and getting caught up before tackling another Mary Westmacott The Rose and the Yew Tree in June.