Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Two Nov-Dec 2026.
A Little Piece of Heidelberg, poems by Amy Abdullah Barry.
A Little Piece of Heidelberg
For Renate
This morning,
picking rhubarb in the garden,
the postwoman called at the gate
and placed the chartreuse envelope
in my hand.
Soil still under my nails.
Inside, a corner of serviette
came home from Heidelberg—
cut from the table
on August 8th,
her seventieth birthday.
Such a little thing to cross the miles—
from Heidelberg to Athlone,
to an August morning in my garden.
I held it for a moment, thinking how friendship
can travel in unexpected ways.
A remembered day
and the simple gesture of saying:
You came.
You stood among my guests
and read a poem.
I was glad you were there.
Danke.
Only a fragment—but one that carries
a whole afternoon,
a friendship,
a dance,
and the quiet certainty
that some moments
do not end
when the music does.
The Chrysanthemum
A flower blossoms for its own joy…Oscar Wilde
It came from the principal at Clonown school.
May Day – the year was already split open.
I carried the pot —
small and grey, knotted with ivy twine —
in both my hands, the way
we carry tidings that might yet turn.
At home I carved a circle in the soil,
an opening just deep enough
for roots to dream beyond their reach.
I steadied the plant, brushed earth to its stem,
a gesture that never recalled burial,
but rather the tucking in of a child
who insists they’re not tired
but is already half dreaming.
Now, it stands, yellow petals swirl in a tall cement pot —
Winter pressed its cold mouth to the leaves,
the plant breathed back — slow, stubborn —
as if its body held a history —
In Japan, the kiku chrysanthemum,
a cherished emblem of good fortune.
All this while, the plant remains –
Even when the nights grow taller than days.
Even in the stripped January air,
it stirs —
a yellow pulse,
teaching me
how to endure
in a world
that isn’t always listening.
© Amy Abdullah Barry
Amy Abdullah Barry Award-winning writer, poet. Amy’s multicultural identity plays a crucial role in her writing, bringing together elements from her Asian roots and Irish life. She is published widely. Her poems have been translated into many languages. Chosen for the Poetry Ireland Introduction Series 2022. She regularly organises poetry & music events in Athlone, Dublin & Roscommon. She has performed her work in Ireland and internationally. Amy was honoured to perform as the opening half for headliner, Lemn Sissay’s ‘Let the Light In’ at Morecambe Poetry Festival, UK, 2024. ‘Flirting with Tigers’ is her collection of poems published by Dedalus Press.