Seamus Heaney

Seamus Heaney (April 13,1939 - August 30, 2013 / Castledàwson, County Londonderry)

#49 on top 500 poets

Poems by Seamus Heaney : 13 / 39

Docker - Poem by Seamus Heaney

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There, in the corner, staring at his drink.
The cap juts like a gantry's crossbeam,
Cowling plated forehead and sledgehead jaw.
Speech is clamped in the lips' vice.

That fist would dropp a hammer on a Catholic-
Oh yes, that kind of thing could start again;
The only Roman collar he tolerates
Smiles all round his sleek pint of porter.

Mosaic imperatives bang home like rivets;
God is a foreman with certain definite views
Who orders life in shifts of work and leisure.
A factory horn will blare the Resurrection.

He sits, strong and blunt as a Celtic cross,
Clearly used to silence and an armchair:
Tonight the wife and children will be quiet
At slammed door and smoker's cough in the hall.

Seamus Heaney

Poems by Seamus Heaney : 13 / 39

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Greg Costello (2/1/2014 6:43:00 AM)

Brilliant word choices, brilliant Heaney. A national treasure. (Report) Reply
Greg Costello (2/1/2014 6:42:00 AM)

Brilliant word choices. Brilliant Heaney, a national treasure. (Report) Reply