Poetry:- 'The Invitation' and others

[riposte]

The Burden
A Tribute to Gerry Adams

With resolute hands
on polished Pine
he shouldered weight
at funeral time
so led the crowds in mourning.

Exhaling slow
with smooth control
in sombre mood
pursued his goal
to shouts of shame and loathing.

All they could see
was murder's gain
neatly wrapped
and brashly raised
trundled out
for public gaze
despite the victims' groaning.

But he with even firmer step
realigned his tightening grip
would not let the burden slip
of the peace that he was holding.

©Michael O'Flanagan 1993

[riposte]

Can They Handle The Truth?

Consider the case of the poet
The fact that he's famous makes no difference.
He's concerned to discover a means
by which complex truths are conveyed.
The omission of certain types of information
constitutes a form of lying.
His publisher may well react
with a naked display of power.
To them the English language
comes a poor second.
The nuance at the nub of every response
is embedded with a hidden threat.
You just can't jump up and down
and speak any time you like.
Such are all shortcomings
of a profession which presumes to judge you.
Of course there are an infinite number
of more subtle versions.
Journalism is just an exercise in creating fiction
based more or less on facts.

© Michael O'Flanagan 2001

[riposte]

Entry Fee

A Candle lit in sunshine attracts no applause.

People come here with pre-conceived idea's.

If your in, your in and if you're not in, you're not getting in.

Success proclaims success but failure remains invisible.

Put your penny in the slot but don't expect a lot.

You can read God's secrets

in the dark.


© Michael O'Flanagan 2002

[riposte]

The Sting

Hip Hip, Hooray !

They have trapped a mouse.

Everyone desreves a pat on the back
for this great feat.

The CIA, the FBI, MI5, MI6 the SFB
George Bush, Validimir Putin,
Geoff Hoon, Tony Blair
The Newark Anti-Terrorist Unit,
The New Brunswick Rose-Growers Association
Donald Duck, Micky Mouse and Pinocchio.

Is that a rhinoceros I see
charging up behind them
as they stand in line for
the photo opportunity?


©Michael O'Flanagan 2002

[riposte]

The Restraining Veneer

Every nation is undermined by
the disenchantment of its own citizens.

The overall level of dissatisfaction will
depend on the goals of the tribe.

Repressed energy gradually mounts up
to a significant loss of opportunity.

The restraining veneer of politeness
can very suddenly wear off.

The median line between constructive
and destructive urges wildly fluctuates.

Orgasms get less press coverage.
Fight is more common than flight.

©Michael O'Flanagan 2003

[riposte]

Dublin

High noon
on mid-summer's day
the light in the bus shelter
is still on.


Freezing rain
on mid-winter's night
- the bus shelter's
gone.


©Michael O'Flanagan 1996

[riposte]

Dublin Bus

Five seventy-eight’s
on Aston Quay
guess which one
is going out first.

Should you queue
more fool you.

Everyone has to have
an equal chance
of NOT getting a seat.
That's Company Policy.

©Michael O’Flanagan 2001

[riposte]

Resurrection
A tribute to Michael Hartnett

Twenty thousand doors
abruptly slammed in my face
- cast out of my place.


Being damned with faint praise
- the blight of my twilight days
Death sees me reborn


To sup with the poor
a ghostly diminutive form
My joy rekindled.

Michael O'Flanagan 1999

[riposte]

Semantex

When I speak, the deaf listen.
I break open ears
long sealed against pleading.

I utter
utter desperation
repressed, compact, condensed and volatile.

When I explode sweet worlds collapse
shattered
and shattered too is silence.

Even as the maimed fall down
the atrophied rise up
to condemn me.

I am never ignored
dismissed
disregarded or forgotten.

I move you
and you
respond to me.


© Michael O'Flanagan 1996

[riposte]

Bin Laden's Cat

War has been declared on sin.
It’s a pretty amorphous concept
on which to declare war,
but there you have it.

We won’t be using a sledge-hammer
to crush a nut
We’ll be using nuclear weapons
to splatter a gnat.

Maybe we’ll miss, but what of that?
we’re sure to kill Bin laden's cat.

© Michael O'Flanagan 2001

[Spectabilis]

'A Candle lit in sunshine attracts no applause.'

For that alone, thanks Riposte. It will take me time to read through the rest, I will enjoy it.

[5intheface]

Bin Laden's Cat

War has been declared on sin.
It’s a pretty amorphous concept
on which to declare war,
but there you have it.

We won’t be using a sledge-hammer
to crush a nut
We’ll be using nuclear weapons
to splatter a gnat.

Maybe we’ll miss, but what of that?
we’re sure to kill Bin laden's cat.

© Michael O'Flanagan 2001

Particularly impressive given that it is from 2001.

[riposte]

Unconnected

I subscribe to a different form of atheism.

Logic is not contingent around here.

There is no framework, no building blocks,
no structure,

Quantum leaps are an everyday event.

The decay of energy
is not a steady drip drip
more, an erratic drip drop.

It's think and unthink
thought and unthought.

The phenomena are all unconnected.

© Michael O'Flanagan 2004

[riposte]

Hubris

We can only vector
in straight lines.

The crooked path
less travelled
is a huge myth.

Robert Frost
was lost.

We are accelerating
at thirtytwo feet
per second per second,

and there are no detours.

Every sentence uttered here
projects itself
towards the next full stop.


© Michael O'Flanagan 2002

[Kev Bar]

Hubris

We can only vector
in straight lines.

The crooked path
less travelled
is a huge myth.

Robert Frost
was lost.

We are accelerating
at thirtytwo feet
per second per second,

and there are no detours.

Every sentence uttered here
projects itself
towards the next full stop.


© Michael O'Flanagan 2002

Like that.