Alice Maher, artist extraordinaire exhibited at the RHA last year in Dublin, the show was entitled, ‘The Night Garden‘ and it was an interesting evolution and development of her themes. I reviewed it elsewhere. A small book of meditations by Éilis Ní Dhuibhne and drawings by Maher were a part of that show.
Eternal Lines to Time
Mairfidh mo ainm go brách
.
Agus mo anam.
Ná bí ag ceapadh
Agus mo chloigeann ar phláta agat
Nach mbeidh mé ann de shíor
Chun tú a chrá, a ghrá.
Mairfidh mo línte
Ar feadh na síoraíochta.
Cén fáth eile
A bheinn ag scríobh?
Ach sin Rud nach nadmhaíonn éinne
Riamh.’
The images are beautiful, but I cannot find them on google. This is another short poem from the Night Garden book:
Leda Asks Zeus
‘What on earth made you think
I’d fancy a swan?
I just don’t get it.
You could turn yourself into anyone.
Brad Pitt, or Mr Darcy.
Heathcliffe.
Even…only slagging…
Maud Gonne.
But ohmygod
A big lump of a swan?
Like, why?
There’s something else I don’t get
or else
You are a goose, Zeus.
But never mind.
It may be afterall
That we are made for each other.’
The Night Garden, Drawings by Alice Maher, Meditations by Eilis Ní Dhuibhne.
Chris Murray 
2 responses to “The Night Garden I. Meditations by Éilis ní Dhuibhne, images by Alice Maher.”
Can you tell me where you reviewed the show & send the link if there is one. Can I also ask what you think Maher’s main themes are and how they have evolved over time? From what I’ve seen she seems to have started out deconstructing Catholic iconography but I find her more recent work more difficult to read…I’d be very interested to hear what you have to say. Thanks
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Ok- I did a response on
http://www.poetryireland.ie/forum/showthread.php?t=118
🙂
There are three Maher snippets on the blog.
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