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14th Anniversary Edition, Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Six Nov-Dec 2023.
Après Match, poems by Maeve O’Sullivan.
Après Match
i.m. Miriam Lynch, 1929-2022
A tardy sunflower blooms
in your long back garden;
abundant cooking apples fall,
parcelling tangy flavours.
In your long back garden
you greet us after the match.
Parcelling tangy flavours,
your legendary apple tart.
You greet us after the match
as we deconstruct the game,
your legendary apple tart
a celebration or consolation.
As we deconstruct the game,
your welcome is warm:
a celebration or consolation
on late-season match days.
Your welcome was warm
as abundant cooking apples fell
on late-season match days,
and a tardy sunflower bloomed.
My Sister’s Birthday
i.m. Jean O’Sullivan, 1954-2017
The late summer sun
lights up a Carlow garden
this Saturday morning.
You might have woken
to this late August day –
chillier after the heatwave.
A lone starling flies past
my window, settling
on top of the granite wall.
You would have got lots of
greetings today, slowly
opened cards and gifts.
A black cat with white socks
pads out of the gates
of the adjoining churchyard.
Later, after breakfast
and a couple of calls,
a leisurely shower.
We sit on cushions
observing our thoughts:
grasping, letting go.
You would have moseyed
a few blocks over
to the Marché d’Aligre.
Over tea, we spread butter
onto freshly-baked scones
slather local jam on top.
A mooch around the market,
buying fruit and flowers,
then coffee and a treat.
We practise walking meditation.
You stroll back towards home.
© Maeve O’Sullivan
Maeve O’Sullivan works part-time in further education. Her poetry and haikai have been widely published, anthologized, awarded and translated. She is the author of five collections from Alba Publishing, the most recent being Wasp on the Prayer Flag (2021). Maeve is a professional member of the Irish Writers’ Centre, and leads workshops in haiku and related forms for adults and children on behalf of them, Poetry Ireland and various festivals.
Both poems are beautiful. Both filled with wonderful imagery. My Sister’s Birthday touches the heart.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Bernie!
Lovely poems Maeve, of course I feel special about your “Jean” poem, still a presence in her absence. Thanks for posting xxx
Beautiful Maeve. The elegy for your sister is both sad and uplifting at the same time.