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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.
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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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Chris Murray 