Remembering Carrigskeewaun // Michael Longley
A wintry night, the hearth inhales And the chimney becomes a windpipe Fluffy with soot and thistledown, A voice-box recalling animals: The leveret come of age, snipe At an angle, then the porpoises’ Demonstration of meaningless smiles. Home is a hollow between the waves, A clump of nettles, feathery winds, And memory no longer than a day When the animals come back to me From the townland of Carrigskeewaun, From a page lit by the Milky Way.














