Woodniche
The dragonflies were here before us, friend:
Cupboard of branch and bramble, woodniche
Where the sun tumbles, foxgloves are gorgeous.
Children tore their knees among these thornes,
Fleshed their pullovers with raspberries.
Orange peel made ripples in the brown water,
Pebbles explored beyond our peering. I
Chewed dandelions and the sun brothered me.
Huge as policemen, sombre as soutanes,
The kind trees whispered in the long watch
And I used wonder in tremendous shadow
And be afraid of where the wonder led.
Summer was wealthy with a daze of suntraps,
Daffodil-spitting, sumptuous. Everywhere
Ours for the taking. Whoever has said
It is time to go home is an adult.
Aidan Mathews (var. Aidan Carl Mathews) was born in 1956 in Dublin.
His poetry collections include Windfalls (Dublin, The Dolmen Press, 1977); Minding Ruth (Loughcrew, The Gallery Press, 1983); and According to the Small Hours (London, Jonathan Cape, 1998).
His plays are The Diamond Body (Project Theatre, Dubin); Entrance, Exit (The Peacock Theatre, Dublin); and Communion (The Peacock Theatre).
He has also published two collections of stories, Adventures in a Bathyscope (Secker & Warburg, London, 1988), and Lipstick on the Host (Secker & Warburg, 1992); and a novel, Muesli at Midnight (Secker & Warburg, 1990).
His awards include The Irish Times Award, 1974; The Patrick Kavanagh Award in 1976; the Macauley Fellowship in 1978-9 and an Academy of American Poets Award in 1982. He reached the shortlist for the first GPA Book Award in 1989.
He lives in County Dublin. http://www.irishwriters-online.com/mathews-aidan/
Alan Olee Book Report 