Poem Of The Day: Being a Poet by Colette Nic Aodha

We're delighted to present our Poem Of The Day, presented in association with Poetry Ireland. 

Today's poem is Being a Poet by Colette Nic Aodha - read it below.

'A necklace of wrens': when he was young

Michael Hartnett lay down in a field one day,

Lots of wrens settled on his chest:

Dreoilín, dreoilín, rí na n-éan,

is mór and cuid, is beag tú féin,

éirí suas, a bhean an tí,

is tabhair dom pingin,

chun é a chur ina luí.

His Granny said that he would be a poet.

I recall laying down on grass at the foot of a hill,

when I was young, out of the sight of my mother,

dodging work.

She told me I was going to be a poet,

but when she spoke

it sounded more like a threat.