Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page

Around this time last year Emma Meade, originally from Douglas in Co Cork who now lives in Oranmore Co Galway submitted a poem called 'The Princess'. At the time we said "they're are all forms of poetry in which the visual element is part of the poem's art, the typographical arrangement of letters and words on the page are as much a part of the poem's essence as the more traditional poetic techniques like prosody, meter, image, etc. Most important of all poetry is a community connector." This is as true of Emma's poetry today as it was a year ago. In the meantime Emma Graduated last October with an MA in Literature and Publishing from NUI and she now works in publishing in Galway. After the recent terrible weather in the West of Ireland she was inspired to write this poem.

The White Lady

The sun sets and she appears
Pale, translucent even and crying
Howling now as the wind picks up
She mourns for them all
Dusk surrounds this ghostly shape
Like a possessive lover
She will not be silenced.

In the houses below they listen in fear
The sign of the cross is made
Prayers and pleas
'not our family please'

The keening now a screeching
Little hairs stand erect
As they wonder who has fallen
From this world to the next
She floats closer to their homes
Pointy fingernail tapping gently
On the chosen one's window...

© Emma Meade