Live Encounters Poetry & Writing Volume Four November-December 2024
Townie, poem by Mari Maxwell.
Townie
i
Down Bower’s Way,
a flush of pink and cherry
poppies spread their petals
with attitude.
Polar bear and swan puffs foam
and froth down river in the gushing Robe.
ii
City dwelling, I tell new neighbours
who giggle at my reference.
Yet city living it is.
We no longer hear Farmer Tony’s horn
calling his sheep down meadow.
Nor the call of the heron across the turlough,
or the swans along Lough Mask.
Our cats no longer stroll the village boreen,
nor snooze on limestone thrones.
iii
Four weeks in and we are readjusting
no longer under siege nor threat
from landlord, relations or tradesmen.
No peering in our windows,
unannounced, uninvited.
No sneaking by our kitchen window
at dark, nor spinning tyres in our driveway
on holiday weekends.
No cigarette fumes wafting in
in the wee hours of the morning.
iv
Here a robin guards my solace
serenades me from a wooden post.
And in the shade of the chestnuts,
bittersweet, woody nightshade blooms.
I am reminded of the lilac harebells
I once swooned at.
v
I no longer smudge
just sit by the weir, thundering water one side
stilled upon the other, as my heart beats a new steady.
No trembling finger tips, panic attacks.
I don’t pick from the thick blackberry briars here,
nor offer these neighbours baked goodies from my kitchen.
There will be time here in the pulse of it all.
Cattle and sheep in these fields, swallows readying for
their September farewell while across the way
the Partry Mountains.
vi
Nature trills where moorhens and chicks dabble
in the reeds and lily pads, herons by the weir.
Ukrainian brothers fish from camping stools,
and a daytime gaggle of teens swells the
gravel path.
Joy and laughter beneath the towering chestnuts,
and dangling ash branches sweeping the river.
All of us picking up, scraping off, regrafting the pages
of our lives, stories unfolding.
New beginnings by the banks of the Robe.
© Mari Maxwell
Mari Maxwell is a writer based in Ballinrobe. Her work features online and in print in Ireland, USA, UK, Brazil, and elsewhere. She received an Agility Award from the Arts Council of Ireland in 2023 and a Professional Development Award in 2020/21. She is working on her debut poetry collection and a hybrid novel.
Fabulous poem, Mari. I walked The Bower with you, without my gymslip.
Congratulations on being published by Live Encounters Magazine. A new resettlement brings on many poems, I await them. Xx