File na hAlban - Scottish Poet Don Paterson gets the queen of England's seal of approval
“It is apt to say, in the case of Paterson, that it never rains but it pours: his latest volume of poems, Rain, won the prestigious Forward Poetry Prize for the Best Collection last year and now he has been recognised by the Crown, not only for that book but also for his whole body of work.”
The Times newspaper of England, January 2010
----------------------------
Moonlight snuffed
Why would you want
the smarmy recognition?
Why would you want
the extraordinary rendition?
You with the power to turn Rain
into celluloid, blazing lines, and back again
You with the regal thread in your veins
Soul brother Celt and comrade
You who could roll out moonlight
along the shore of my mind
Why would you be wanting
a queen's gold medal?
Why would you not be a rebel?
None of this, none of this matters
in the realm of the poet’s Parallax
Be a man in your ain book
and send back the poisoned chalice.
@ Paul Larkin
Baile Átha Cliath
An Cháisc 2010
(I waited until Easter 2010 before publishing this poem, in the apparently vain hope that Don Paterson would announce that he could not accept the English Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry.)
The Times of London article quoted can be read at
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/poetry/article6972944.ece
Also see this useful biog at -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Paterson
Extended reaction to the previous blog on dissidents and drug gangs
Here are some rather more extended comments from regular readerd of Cic Saor. (Brief Translations and my own responses are marked as "PL")
START OF COMMENTS -
A Phablo,
léigh mé do alt agus tuigim duit.
PL -
I READ YOUR ESSAY AND I UNDERSTAND WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM
Sin ráite, ó thaobh deiseanna faidhb na tíre a reiteadh,
is amaidí é ceapadh nach bhfuil ach aon treoir amhain polaitíochta poblachta ann.
Tá ACHÁN bhealach le brú a chuir ar forsaí eachtreach, (Breatanach nó Meiriceanach) tarraingt amach as an tír seo ceart, cóir agus dlíthiúl.
PL
(ALL MEASURES ARE ACCEPTABLE (ILLEGAL OR OTHERWISE) TO GET FOREIGN FORCES OUT OF OUR COUNTRY)
Léigh an t-alt uilig - Read Full Article....
The slaughter and corruption of Irish youth – North and South
Within the last fortnight, two young men have been shot dead in our country. One, Aidan Byrne (a drug dealer and rapist) was riddled with bullets whilst sitting in a car that was parked about two hundred yards from my front door. The other, Kieran Doherty (a member of the so called Real IRA) was found dumped in a country lane with his hands bound and stripped of his clothing. This second equally brutal and premeditated murder happened in a town I “love so well” – Doire Cholmchille – Derry. Again there was a drugs link to the murder.
I want you, dear readers, to forget about the faults of these two men, grievous as they might have been.
Léigh an t-alt uilig - Read Full Article....