Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume One Nov-Dec 2026.
Kneeling, poem by Roisín Browne.
Kneeling
on a mahogany pew,
if not cushioned, the bony wood,
presses sore against the bony knee.
Lean forward, you can
take the pressure off.
Evening shops shuttered,
a young man kneels,
denimed knees hard on tarmac.
Others stand, watch him
on the street. He cannot
take the pressure off.
A concave line of motorcycle lights
glow like a halo before him.
He learns
in this before moment,
they indicate, not succour
but sacrifice.
© Roisín Browne
Roisín Browne lives in Rush, Co Dublin and has been published in A New Ulster, The Galway Review, The Stony Thursday Book, Live Encounters Poetry & Writing, Poem Alone, New Word Order, Flare, Black Nore Review, Ragaire Literary Magazine and Mnemotope. She was commended in the Gregory O’Donoghue Awards in 2018, shortlisted in The 7th Annual Bangor Poetry Competition in 2019 and was highly commended in the Seán Dunne Inaugural Poetry Award 2024. You can find Roisín here @ismiseroisinbrowne.