New Irish Writing: Poetry by Helen Pinoff
New Irish Writing’s winning poems for February 2024
Helen Pinoff, the poetry selection for February's New Irish Writing
Helen lives in the rural North West. Her poems have been published in collections including The Cormorant broadsheet and have appeared online with Fish Publishing and Poetry Kit. They have been longlisted for the 2022 Fish Poetry Prize and shortlisted by The Stinging Fly.
Disco music
It was an August wedding
hot and heady
meeting those old friends again
too many toasts and glasses of wine
— so, mid-dance I thought it wise
to escape to the Ladies, — rest
behind the rustic door,
have a word with myself
Sitting there — ears buzzing
with resonance from the speakers
(a long-forgotten feeling)
a new old tune
— blasted in
with a well-done riff
reverberating through rough timber
the terrific beat vibrating the ceiling,
the walls, the doors
to slam me back
half a century
to the toilets
at the green graffitied
corrugated metal Community Hall
— the riotous shriek of guitars
the volume so high the thin
glossed hardboard walls
have an electric thrum and thump
pulsing through — I’m inside a drum,
the terrific beat vibrating the ceiling
the walls, the doors
with a metallic echo of the
thrill, the uproar
it’s All Right Now
Free
I’m fifteen
at the Charity Disco
having a pee
Life on Earth
..… honoured still more
That he should seek my hospitality
From out the dark door of the secret earth.
— DH Lawrence
Today we made believe that
I was David Attenborough
and you the mountain gorilla;
I kept low and small subservient
focused on my fingernails
feigned indifference and
made of myself a jungle orchid
You slowly slantwise
crossed the glade between
the leaves and shadows
of leaves and joined me there
had a sniff, settled down
made yourself my
curious companion
Join the Irish Independent WhatsApp channel
Stay up to date with all the latest news
