This week's Poem Of The Week, presented in association with Poetry Ireland, comes from Aidan Matthews' new collection Strictly No Poetry, his first collection of poetry in 20 years, published by The Lilliput Press.
New Year's Resolution
i.m. Dennis O’Driscoll
A fair-trade cent on each and every latte
(Decaf, of course) for our twinned Honduran family;
My bit, such as it is, for the thirsty planet:
The hot tap turned off tightly while I mouthwash.
Plus the sheer bad manners of more poetry
Breathing through my cold sores wherever I go
And saving the artisan bread through the sorbet course
For that adulterous mallard from the Dodder falls
Who turns up April Fool’s Day with his biddies
Where the pond has gone to ground in the Radio Centre.
More music, much less talk, in other words,
Same as the slogan on the pre-set station, Q something,
A moment of G minor worthy of Abba
Or a line from the early Bee Gees, a countertenor’s cry.
Which would be asking for too much, much too late.
But writing more lightly, drinking more heavily, Dennis,
And dancing with the alcohol molecule
The way Miss Piggy danced with Rudolf Nureyev,
Forgetting for a while the state of my underwear:
Togs soaked in the North Atlantic under a rented tux.
And the letters AMDG written in full DayGlo
At every page turn, lemon, lavender, blue,
Over the scatty Latin and the bungled algebra, yes,
And the thought of you.
About The Poet: Strictly No Poetry, Aidan Mathews’ fourth volume of poetry, follows upon Windfalls (Dolmen 1977), Minding Ruth (Gallery 1983) and According to the Small Hours (Cape 1998). Mathews was born in Dublin in 1956 and attended UCD and Stanford University in the USA. He is an award-winning playwright, novelist and short-story writer, whose last collection, Charlie Chaplin’s Wishbone and Other Stories, was published by Lilliput Press in 2015. He is currently a radio drama producer in RTÉ.
