Mid-term in Belfast.
Magnolia buds
vertically
from squat-boled trees
in railed gardens
some bright light years south
of Somerton
and Crumlin Roads.
Branches of candles
on low altars
of blue, excited weather.
Menorah
after menorah
that lifts its arms
under plane trail
and cloud scud
to the cars passing,
roof-racked, honking
wagons
in convoy – all revved
and bound now
for the crossing points
at Pettigo
or Coffin Bridge.
The plan uncertain.
The children crying.
A few things
gathered
and thrown, in haste,
in the trunk.
Leontia Flynn's most recent collection, The Radio, won the 2018 Irish Times Poetry Now Award. Her previous collection, Profit and Loss, was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and she received the Lawrence O'Shaughnessy Award for Poetry in 2013
