Resting place, poems by Bernadette Gallagher
Bernadette Gallagher was born in Donegal, Ireland in 1959. Her poems explore the nuances of memory and experience and have been published in Irish Examiner, Boyne Berries, ROPES, Stanzas, in the US peace journal DoveTales and online at HeadStuff.org, Picaroon Poetry, Poethead, The Incubator, Live Encounters and Irish Poetry Archive UCD. bernadettegallagher.blogspot.ie facebook.com/BernadetteGallagherWriter
Resting Place
I once eyed an owl perched on the ditch.
I stopped the car and watched transfixed.
The same spot where first we glanced a field
sloped to merge with ancient trees – now
flattened by man and his machine. Trees cut
into small pieces. No resting place for owls.
A Toddler Shows the Way
He toddles up, down and across
the doctor’s waiting room.
Smiles all round
as he looks each in the eye.
No inhibitions, no barriers
to gender, age, religion, class.
Daffodils
In memoriam J.J.J.
Standing
you look out the window
at the field below
talk of daffodils
then slowly
walk to your bed
where you sleep
for the last time.
Legacy
For Ann Sheehan
Her porcelain collection
once so precious –
placed in a glass fronted press
to be viewed, not touched.
After, we all took a piece
and let the rest
find new homes.
© Bernadette Gallagher