A Poem For Sunday

“Waterbirds” by Michael Longley:

for Emily

Out of the huge sadness of the Iliad

(I was reading Book Fifteen when you died)

Waterbirds are calling—barnacle geese,

Grey herons and long-necked whooper swans—

Waterbirds in flight over a water-meadow,

Honking, settling in front of one another,

Proud of their feather-power—taking me back

To the camogie pitch where your heart failed.

Waterbirds are calling—barnacle geese,

Grey herons and long-necked whooper swans.

(From The Stairwell © 2014 by Michael Longley. Used by permission of Wake Forest University Press. Photo by Mohamed Malik)