Premier Writing showcases poetry, essays, and short fiction by new and emerging Irish writers. This week’s featured poet is Mary Howlett from Waterford.
Poetry
The Last Goodbye
I remember him standing at the green gate
insisting that I fill my car boot with onions
and cabbages, a few bags of turf cut in the bog
the previous season though his balance
was failing. You’ll need this alannah
for Winter, keep it dry or it won’t last.
Still now I search the passage for a glimpse
of him in his grey coat and cap. How I took
it all for granted, like the Glen River flowing
under the bridge where Jack Grady sat. As if he
would always be there to wave when I looked in the
rear-view mirror, his hand fluttering like a butterfly.
Like he knew it would be the last time he would wave me home.
(alannah is Gaelic for “my child”)
Button Eyes
A foggy November morning
this Sudanese woman comes to ask for help.
Her story woven through braided hair,
her dress, colour of nectar-feeding sunbirds.
I welcome her.
Hiding in abaya folds, four-year-old daughter
Amal, her brown button eyes are suns smiling;
those same eyes once afraid to sleep.
I gift her a school bag, a red uniform, mended,
a new white shirt.
Amal holds it up, measures it against herself,
growing into its possibilities.
I love it, she giggles. I offer her a yellow lolli,
her eyes pop at sweetness on her tongue.
About the author:
Mary Howlett’s poems have been published in The Waxed Lemon, Drawn to the Light Press, Poem Alone, Swerve Magazine, and Shamrock Leaf, among others. She lives in Waterford.
Please see our Premier Writing page for details of how to submit your poetry, essays, or short fiction.
Loughtagalla Times 
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