The Luxury of Colour


Grand Canal Dock, Dublin

This gasworks chimney is a survivor,

the last standing stone of its circle;

the others have eroded over time

but they once used to cover this landscape.

That must have been a world of primary shades

lacking the luxury of colour,

a collage clipped from old newspapers,

when those pipes of the gigantic organ

blasted out their gritty music:

millions of carbon crows flapping in flocks,

storm clouds that perched on buildings and trees

before taking flight as still more arrived,

floating lower and lower in waves

before settling everywhere to roost.

Published in The Storms journal and read at the launch of issue 2 at Swords Castle yesterday!

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