by Greg Delanty
(Marymount Hospice, Cork)
Tonight I keep watch over you dying,
The most peaceful night I ever knew.
I suppose it鈥檚 the release of your going
drawn out over chemo months into
years. I soothe your agitated hand. You lie
under the nightlight鈥檚 nimbus, reflected within
the black window鈥攜our bed and you fly
in the pane above the city鈥檚 Saturday-night din.
.
Pure Chagall. You head into the stars,
over Summerhill, Capwell, Evergreen, the Black Ash;
hover above familiar streets and lanes, bars
folk sing in. There is no need to dash.
Your name has just been noble-called.
Sing South of the Border one last time. You
raise your voice above the Lee, the town you hauled
a lifetime of plastic bags through,
bowing into the drizzle, drudging home
along North Main Street, up Blarney Lane;
our city of hills, our 鈥橣risco, our Rome,
our Buenos Aires, our Varanasi. Rain weeps on the pane.
Your hand must be waving adios. Ma,
the night sky reflects our city below.
Now every light鈥檚 a votive candle, your Fatima.
Behold the glass darkly. There you go.
Quarryman
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