In memory of Breda Wall Ryan
Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, November 2023
That morning we would have followed you anywhere,
though you’d laid down the path with perfect care,
planned the route, tree by tree, line by line,
each stanza just right for the view of soaring trunks,
of specimen plants, of redwoods, of light
glistening on glass at the Great Palm House.
What mattered a raindrop or two?
You gave us the reason to pause and listen.
A tiny bird, breast red and damp with November,
hopped to the wheel of your chair.
You were always the poet who could stop robins
in their tracks, still their song for something sweeter.
Nessa O’Mahony is from Dublin. She has published five volumes of poetry, the most recent being The Hollow Woman on the Island (Salmon Poetry 2018).
Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, November 2023
That morning we would have followed you anywhere,
though you’d laid down the path with perfect care,
planned the route, tree by tree, line by line,
each stanza just right for the view of soaring trunks,
of specimen plants, of redwoods, of light
glistening on glass at the Great Palm House.
What mattered a raindrop or two?
You gave us the reason to pause and listen.
A tiny bird, breast red and damp with November,
hopped to the wheel of your chair.
You were always the poet who could stop robins
in their tracks, still their song for something sweeter.
Nessa O’Mahony is from Dublin. She has published five volumes of poetry, the most recent being The Hollow Woman on the Island (Salmon Poetry 2018).
