Poetry Sundae
Remembering what matters
This is the moveable cultural feast that’s part of The Gaelic Effect, featuring poetry, music, art and/or video. As a support for Irish learners, focail as Gaeilge (words in Irish) are hyperlinked to their pronunciation.
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If you missed the live video yesterday, three lucky paid subscribers are receiving gift copies of Effie Brush’s beautiful book, We Will Never Be Together. Comhghairdeas (congratulations) to Norma C., Penn. and Deirdre H. Thank you for subscribing to The Gaelic Effect and for being paid subscribers. Your generous support makes a difference! Stay tuned for more “thank yous” for paid subscribers!
Love remembers what matters…
I first heard this poem decades ago and immediately fell in love with it. It still touches my heart. It is so simple, juxtaposing an event and a reaction to that event; a tension between the present and the future: what has happened and what will happen. It shows how a single second cascades to something much bigger. At once, it invites in the present moment: to be mindful, in gratitude, and in choice. When you love someone, each moment (and being present to that moment) is an expression of love.
After the original as Gaeilge (in Irish) there is a translation as Bearla (in English). I highly encourage you to listen to the video that follows, to hear the poem spoken in the original Irish. It is so much more beautiful and resonant, with an assonance lost in translation (no matter how skillful) into English.
Subh Mhilis
Bhí subh mhilis
Ar bhoschrann an dorais,
Ach mhúch me an corraí
Ionam a d'éirigh,
Mar smaoinigh mé ar an lá
A bheas an bhoschrann glan,
Agus an lámh bheag
Ar iarraidh.
by Séamus O’Neill
Jam
There was jam
On the door handle
But I held back the anger
That was beginning to rise
Because I thought of the day
When the door handle would be clean
And the little hand
Gone away.
Translation by Jennifer Liston
Wishing you awareness of small moments of love (and awe),
Dian, i mBaile Atha Cliath (in Dublin)
P.S. Note: since you can hear the poem in the video, I have not hyperlinked words to their pronunciation.
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Beautiful poignant poem! And looking forward to Effie’s book 🙂 x