The Soothing Word

Nov 01, 2011

The opening image commands belief:
thousands and thousands of mice
streaming in and out
of the railway tracks.

Waiting for the whistle to sound
it’s felt under their bones.
Let the train come, in the end,
but before that: displacement.

Aifric Mac Aodha's first poetry collection, 'Gabháil Syrinx' ('The Taking of Syrinx'), was published by An Sagart in 2010, and she has had work in various magazines and journals, including POETRY Young Irish Poets. She is the literary editor of Comhar, eagarthóir of gorse, and the Irish language poetry editor of The Stinging Fly. Her work has been translated to many languages, including French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Czech.