Thursday, April 2, 2015

These Are My Days by Bernie Kenny - Update 2/5/15

 Bernie Kenny's latest book, These Are My Days, will be launched on Sunday 14 June 2015 at 10.30pm as part of the Dalkey Book Festival. Venue is Magpie Inn, Dalkey, Co. Dublin.      
Here is the first poem from this amazing book:








Because I am old


don’t think my days are non-events
spent fretting and forgetting and, like
a startled deer, don’t leap away in fear
of a soliloquy about the good old days.
These are my days, each a gift new-minted,
mine to spend and they are good.

How quaint you say that I believed
marriage came first, then we lived
together ever after, a joint was Sunday roast,
hardware nuts and bolts, software not a word.

Today where would I be without the Dart
my free travel pass, two replacement hips,
my duck-down duvet, cappuccino, my Ipad
and my mobile phone where alphabetic
brevity keeps loved ones close. R U OK
and a smiley face instantly replace
My dearest daughter, I hope this letter
finds you well and happy, in postal
transit for a week or more.

As for regrets, I have one.
Like Nadine Stair at eighty-five
were I to live my life again
I would pick more daisies.


 Bernie Kenny