Kevin John Mangan

A day to thin to raise the shades in Carrickfergus
we couldn't see the days for years in that hunching obtuse thing
pound for pound it inched rookward
from the black sea smear the low tide laid bare.
...

Tapping toes to tinker reels
and whinging babies the railcar urged
to the south, a sick dog,
and lost pace on the rain heavy leaves
...

Into it I have peered cautiously
eyeballing the rumpled lot not
meaning to stir up the delicate
moth-feast coursing from cuff to collar.
...

Through the flu of the chimney
came the cackle of a crow in the
morning,
coming home past the pastures
...

The path was uneven and washed out,
storms we never witnessed left narrow mucky faults
spiderwebbing into the ramshackle stones.
The flashlight beam searched the rise and fall of its way,
...

'I'll tell you about family...a holy institution meant to breed virtue in savages.'
...