William Wall is a poet from Cork, and was recently appointed the city’s first Poet Laureate. An initiative of the Munster Literature Centre that is funded by Cork City Council, Wall’s role will writing a poem every month for the next ten months, giving a personal response to issues in the city and county. The Irish Examiner will publish these poems in the first week of every month, and the works will also be collected into a chapbook to be launched at next year’s Cork World Book Festival. BURNING THE BOATSOn the fishery protest, Cork Harbourithe river is glass todaythe big boats come upsteaming at five knotsas slow as a trawlsounding their hornsthe haunting noiseof the dying dayswhen the great tideof capital turnslet go your linesnot far from heresix thousand menworked for Henry Fordtill the tide went outbut you’re the fighting kindyou spend your daysout on the banksat the landing winchdecks awashthe trawl warp coming inthey want to burn the boatsthe Brian Eointhe Buddy MStar of The Seabut boats are villagesfamilies townlandsmore than the crewthey’re whole harbourson the Porcupine Bankyou know you’re alivetracking the markalong the deepwater edgeten metre seasHy-Brasil on a bad daytwenty tonnes of whitingin the trawlif a cable partsyou’re a dead manquotas the way they areit’s go or busttied to the wallyou catch no fishiieveryone is down to see the boatscars line the quayslike in the old dayswhen they came to meet the Inisfallenuncles and auntswith cardboard suitcasesold Erin sending her youth awayand pulling them home for the two-week spreeand once again I see the boat in people’s eyesmaybe Australia this timedo they need lobstermen or seiners in New South Waleswe sold our seas to save our farms no one ever said old Irelandcould see beyond the next bendnever mind the horizonwe sold our seas and all their fishand now it seems we’ll sell the boatswe’ll sell the people toowe’ve done it more than once beforethey who know every rock in the roadsteadwho will buy what they cannot sellevery wreck and every bank and deepthe names of the changing seathe half-tide rock where the seals sleepthe holding ground

Source: Irish Examiner July 07, 2021 07:30 UTC