The Condemned

there is a coca-cola machine

now 

in the old crumlin road jail

somewhere between

the flogging post

and the execution chamber.

I did not stop to check

if it was actually plugged in

or just a polite breed of furniture,  

an attempt to remind 

the nightmare is over.

or, which nightmare is over. 

The Hills Have Names

some hills are given names.

there is one called the hill of screaming 

because of a time 

some Presbyterians threw a bunch of Catholics

off a cliff. 

and just across the way

there is one called the hill of harmony

because of a time 

a bunch of Presbyterians and some Catholics bought an old ruined house 

together for £8,000

made their beds and slept in them

until the day they could wake up without war. 

I think this is what is meant by,

“Is this the hill you want to die on?”

penance

a man hurt me very badly once 

today his eyes are wide and still 

and his only wish

is to untangle the knots 

in my hair

one by one

with his fingers

it’s been seven years 

is that not the sentence jacob thought he toiled for rachel’s hand?

words become labored and

tied tight calloused

my brow is furrowed my hand is tucked

I let him touch my hair