Sitting in the small room at the end of the return,
afternoon sloping into silence, I hear
the clip of magpies’ heels on the tiles overhead.
My eyes follow the sound, like a scribble on the ceiling,
as they potter in the afternoon heat.
I imagine them tuxedoed, strutting in singles and pairs,
wings folded casually like arms behind their backs –
a welcome respite after a busy day, waking early
to clear moss from the gutters, bickering over food scraps
in the garden – but, all the time, waiting for darkness,
casinos to open, champagne to spill,
jewelled eyes primed for glitter and gold,
beaks sharpened for each opportunity
and, in the morning, a solitary earring on the step.
Maurice Devitt is a past winner of the Trocaire/Poetry Ireland and Poems for Patience competitions and published his debut collection, ‘Growing Up in Colour’, with Doire Press in 2018. He is Curator of the Irish Centre for Poetry Studies site.
afternoon sloping into silence, I hear
the clip of magpies’ heels on the tiles overhead.
My eyes follow the sound, like a scribble on the ceiling,
as they potter in the afternoon heat.
I imagine them tuxedoed, strutting in singles and pairs,
wings folded casually like arms behind their backs –
a welcome respite after a busy day, waking early
to clear moss from the gutters, bickering over food scraps
in the garden – but, all the time, waiting for darkness,
casinos to open, champagne to spill,
jewelled eyes primed for glitter and gold,
beaks sharpened for each opportunity
and, in the morning, a solitary earring on the step.
Maurice Devitt is a past winner of the Trocaire/Poetry Ireland and Poems for Patience competitions and published his debut collection, ‘Growing Up in Colour’, with Doire Press in 2018. He is Curator of the Irish Centre for Poetry Studies site.
