Live Encounters Poetry & Writing May 2026
In the Era of Dictionaries, poems by Terry McDonagh.
In the Era of Dictionaries
In the era of hardback dictionaries
I was young and proud
to be the bearer of a mighty book –
bigger than a bible – bound,
covered, arranged, dressed
and as full of mystery as any dream.
It nourished and defied me
with reams of words – all fresh,
smirking and nonchalant as you like.
It didn’t ever complain when I dog-eared
while snatching at elusive meaning
like a young saint sucking up sanctified water
from an eternal spring.
Dear Dictionary,
I haven’t lost respect or forgotten but,
like others, I’ve joined the net race
to look elsewhere for untried language.
In reflective moments, I see you –
quiet as an endless autumn,
smiling down from a top shelf,
urging me to sit on a granary step
in a bundle of calm among breezes
perusing and skimming through leaves,
as song-birds sing songs I’d like to sing.
After all,
we are of element, word and creature.
We are one.
Somewhere a Lone Blackbird Sings
From over the hills and far away
where grass was always greener,
I would serenade childhood memories
and meadows that don’t recognise me –
now that I’m back – or ask me
what I got up to in my long absence.
Today, a blackbird sang on a withering branch
but that’s not the bird that used to intoxicate me
nor is it the bush that housed my dreams
and reached out to autumn that kept on dying.
It’s spring. Calves are gimping. I’m not
my younger self but I am patient as I wait
for my past to catch up with my here and now,
as I strain for the faint song of a lone blackbird
in the pilgrim stillness of bog-cotton and hawthorn.
© Terry McDonagh
Terry McDonagh, Irish poet and dramatist has worked in Europe, Asia and Australia. He’s taught creative writing at Hamburg University and was Drama Director at Hamburg International School. Published eleven poetry collections, letters, drama, prose and poetry for young people. In March 2022, he was poet in residence and Grand Marshal as part of the Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations in Brussels. His work has been translated into German and Indonesian. His poem, ‘UCG by Degrees’ is included in the Galway Poetry Trail on Galway University campus. In 2020, Two Notes for Home – a two-part radio documentary, compiled and presented by Werner Lewon, on The Life and Work of Terry McDonagh, The Modern Bard of Cill Aodáin. His latest poetry collection, ‘Two Notes for Home’ – published by Arlen House – September 2022. He returned to live in County Mayo in 2019. www.terry-mcdonagh.com