Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Two Nov-Dec 2026.
Seaside autumn, poems by Sven Kretzschmar.
Seaside autumn
Fastnet, Lundy, Irish Sea:
moderate maritime weather
conditions, occasional gusts onshore,
bringing city dwellers out onto sand
for late summer tans, touristy stints on
Bastardstown Beach, Rosslare Fort, Saltee Islands;
mainly fair in the morning, by afternoon
black seas swelling from the tab.
Cahore Pier, Kilmore Quay, Carnsore Point: yellow
foam on stout waves rising toward
evening, amber sundown in tumblers,
no ice this season. Plastic cards, coins washing
through publicans’ hands, live music swashing around
Rosslare Harbour, Glendoyne, the Hook Lighthouse.
The poet speaks to her in silence
Taming a lynx
The woodland and walkways
of my inside
I have never been
a stranger to. A stranger
who never wasted a thought
on taming a lynx
though I would not object
to its company should it ever
cross my dirt-tracks.
The intimacy of a cold
cat nose more familiar
than that of a trusted
human who never was.
Would you have a worry
about entering the woods?
Don’t be afraid! Somewhere
I have been a stranger too.
© Sven Kretzschmar
Sven Kretzschmar hails from Germany. His poetry has been published widely in Europe and overseas, among other outlets in Writing Home. The ‘New Irish’ Poets (Dedalus Press, 2019), Hold Open the Door (UCD Press, 2020), Voices 2021 (Cold River Press, 2021) The Irish Times, and Das Gedicht. He was awarded 2nd place at the Francis Ledwidge International Poetry Award 2022. He has become a regular contributor to Live Encounters. In addition to poetry, he has started writing absurd and grotesque short prose in German.