Mike Begnal’s review of ‘Three red things’

Three red things
Three red things

With thanks to Michael Begnal for his astute reading of my 2013 chapbook, Three red things (Smithereens Press, 2013)

The chapbook is readable here, Three red things


From, Murray & McCardle, Smithereens chapbooks

One section I particularly like is “reed songs I-IV,” set at Trá an Dóilín in the Connemara town of An Cheathrú Rua. Trá an Dóilín is a coral beach that is often also covered in maerl (reddish seaweed/algae). A beautiful spot. Here, the colors of the beach in one section merge into the colors of a horse in another:
 
She had tumbled down the stone walls in flight
in frenzy
the men caught her
 
amongst the strife the orange flame
 
the yellow strife
the white
 
white grey and cream : her
mane and tail is against the wall
 
There are so many ways to read this; it suggests something about oppression, specifically in the gendering of those involved. Also running through it are themes relating to the muse in poetry, music (“your double-flute’s song”), the Famine, and the “noise” of mannered civilization. (Michael Begnal)

The review in its entire can be read here.


Michael Begnal

Poetry collections: Future Blues (Salmon Poetry, 2012), Ancestor Worship (Salmon Poetry, 2007), Mercury, the Dime (Six Gallery Press, 2005), The Lakes of Coma (Six Gallery Press, 2003). Anthologies: Avant-Post: The Avant-Garde under “Post-” Conditions (Litteraria Pragensia, 2006). As editor: Honeysuckle, Honeyjuice: A Tribute to James Liddy (Arlen House, 2006), The Burning Bush literary magazine (1999-2004).

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