Sky Map

Sky Map
© Orla Grant-Donoghue 2021

Will you meet me on the other side of now,
where there is space to dream as the world upends,
where the sky is mapped with possibility,
where winds carry the promise of freedom,
where we can surf the waves of uncertainty
until hope floats us home?

RTÉ Radio 1: The Poetry Programme

unsaid goodbyes
in rose petals
mask viral waves

This was my opening haiku on the pandemic, which I read as part of the RTÉ Poetry Programme on 1 November 2020. You can listen back to the show on the RTÉ Radio player or online at

https://www.rte.ie/culture/2020/1027/1174118-the-poetry-programme-writing-haiku-and-debut-collections/

I was delighted to be part of a conversation about haiku with Olivia O’Leary, Maeve O’Sullivan and David J Kelly. Thank you to the series producer Claire Cunningham and presenter Olivia O’Leary for including me.

The Reflective Eye: FLARE 12

(after the sculpture by Emer O Boyle at University College Dublin)

Can I hide in this place
where reality is multiplied,
amplified
between beams of light
magnified,
where mirrored retinas
reflect inner lives,
where jet streams carry truth
in the half light,
where moonbeams and sunlight
can find me
with
or
without
my sight?

Thank you to Éamon Mag Uidhir for including my poem The Reflective Eye in FLARE 12. More information on where FLARE is available is at http://www.flare.ie The stunning cover art is by Solus (Instagram @solus.art). The sculpture is by Emer O Boyle at University College Dublin. This poem aims to raise awareness about living with a rare eye disease.