It was on the eve of Valentine
In the year of ninety eight
That the Master’s name so resonant
Was marked absent on the slate;
...
Emerging from the station dimly lit,
The Dublin train confronts the dark;
Cruising comfortably out of Kerry
Before careering headlong onwards
...
On the TV they show a poor survivor
Just being rescued from the rubble
From the ruins of his Port Au Prince.
That awful earth quake weeks ago
...
(For Róisín)
Blown about but still unbroken,
Hard knocks are left unspoken.
...
Alas I've lost my sense of smell
And my hips they hurt as well;
My eyesight may not be so bad
But not as good as what I had;
...
That's the place where it stood,
That forge above Cregg Cross;
'Bob Tannian, the handyman'
Ruled within with an iron rod.
...
He stood there as I passed,
His carrier bags beside him,
Pacing to and fro patiently
In an empty, idle bus stop
...
Stopping at Lake Te Anau
Felt like we had stumbled
On some masterpiece of art
Then made a part of it;
...