My Squat Pen

A Tribute to Seamus Heaney

I want to be like Seamus Heaney,

my squat pen resting

between my finger and my thumb.

 

I long to dig for words,

to slice those sods of turf

until I see verse form from the dark earth

of my newly turned thoughts,

like those Heaney spilled in his warm, brogue narrative.

 

All day I would slog in those fields

‘til my sweat turned barren furrows full

and fed the empty parchment in my head.

 

I long to see the world

with the clarity and simplicity, he did,

use his clear sage’s eyes,

like rough farmer’s calloused hands

upon the potter’s wheel,

carving his prose from unglazed, shattered shards

so neatly planted in coloured,

polished mosaics of perfect poetry.

 

They hang raw as a fresh stripped cow’s carcass

swinging from meat hooks above the butcher’s block.

 

Words and phrases that smell of damp mud, and peat,

and the unwashed skin of honest toil,

and the smoke of many battles with the devil,

and the taste of blood

where lips have been broken

by the brutal boot of occupation.

 

02/09/22

Reviews

[Sami Khalil]

One of your best; you are excelling like him. I like his poem titled "Digging". It gave us a snapshot of the hard life of his dad and grandpa. He chose to take the poetic route. Many exciting and well said lines in this poem.
Marvelous!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Thank you so much Sami

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome sir John.

[Tom]

Wonderful penmanship throughout mirroring the famous Irish poet Seamus Heaney, definitely nailed his craft here through arguably his best known poem, ' Digging ' .... Can't say nor won't say this is better but I will say it's as good as his original or darn well near as good, and that takes mighty poetic acumen!

' I long to see the world

with the clarity and simplicity, he did,

use his clear sage’s eyes,

like rough farmer’s calloused hands

upon the potter’s wheel,

carving his prose from unglazed, shattered shards

so neatly planted in coloured,

polished mosaics of perfect poetry.'

Brilliant!!

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Tom I am humbled beyond belief. I feel breathless from reading such an unexpected accolade. Heaney's style to me is sim[ply magnificent and I could never imagine getting anywhwere close to his skill. But thank you Tom, I am really humbled. This is one of a quartet of poems about Northern Ireland.