Ní theastaíonn uaimse ach mo dhóthain

mar lón,

don chodladh suaimhneach, greim ar bord

agus deoch le n-ól is gan deoir anuas sa ngeimhreadh

ach

cén chaoi gur eol

do dhuine a dhóthain? Nó an ionann dóthain is fuílleach?

Nó ar mhair aon neach ar an domhan seo fós a d’aithin a dhóthain go díreach?

Fill

All I expect is my fill

to sustain me,

for a sound night’s sleep, a table in reach,

drink on tap

and no leaking drop in the winter

but

how is a body

to know its limit?

Are enough and plenty the same thing? Or has anyone yet lived watching

the glass fill who knew to say ‘when’?

David Wheatley a d’aistrigh

Ba mhór an feall litríocht na Gaillimhe a cheiliúradh gan an ghlúin a fheacadh do Joe Steve Ó Neachtain. Táimid buíoch dá fhoilsitheoir Micheál Ó Conghaile as cead a thabhairt dúinn an dán seo leis a chur i gcló (as An Dé Deiridh, Cló Iar- Chonnacht, 2008) agus do David Wheatley as é a aistriú.

It would be impossible to celebrate Galway’s literature without honouring Joe Steve Ó Neachtain. The editors are grateful to his publisher Micheál Ó Conghaile for permitting us to reproduce this poem (from An Dé Deiridh, Cló Iar-Chonnacht, 2008) and to David Wheatley for his translation.