Earth Day in Abu Dhabi - Poetry under the moon.

Below is a short poem which celebrates the moon.  Bullsmouth is a small pier on Achill Island, Co Mayo in Ireland.  The pier is used for transporting people on curraghs and small boats to Innisbiggle, the small island off Achill.  With a population of less than 100 people, I saw Innisbiggle in the distance from my kitchen window and watched the sun rise above it in the early morning and the moon appear over it in the evenings.   I remember as a child waiting at the pier as the locals from the island loaded up their stores and groceries for the fortnight onto the boats and  rowed across the sea trying to avoid the current.  I wrote this poem several years ago and it is published in my collection Kill Your Television which was launched in 2010.

Bullsmouth


Blurred reflections trip across the sea,
shaded streaks and fragmented stars
shimmer in the black horizon,
the moon, bright and cold,
dances to the waves,
grey foam resting on the rocks,
ebbing into night.

A white light flickers
beaming a lone signal
across the bay,
the shadowy moon watches over,
transformed each night,
elusive and fragile,
a startling new reflection
appears each night,
fading across each new horizon.

 This photo of Spiritual Poetess, Bahareh Amidi and myself was taken at the Earth Watch - Poetry Under the Moon in NYU Abu Dhabi City Campus on 22 April 2012.  Hosted by Bahareh, it featured young poets from NYU reciting their own poems of young love with young musicians and a singer song writer celebrating Earth Watch through words and music. It was very refreshing to hear these young voices on a balmy evening in Abu Dhabi, reminding me what it was like to be that young and hopeful for the future.    







The Viaduct Bards - Poetry in Motion

Innocence Personified


Cool Splashes tingling in the evening sun,
water trickling down her face,
sweaty limbs danced to the moody waves
lashing against her body,
arched momentarily as the sea sprayed its charm
still young enough to scream and shout,
her giggling voice faded under the Atlantic crush,
she rose above the surf, trembling with joy,
salt cleansed her burning flesh,
her petulant figure washed away,
a new shape reappeared above the waves,
the laughter stopped,
the sea surrendered to this new performance,
mature and graceful she stood alone.

Rooftop Rhythms in Abu Dhabi


Last month I read three poems at this Open Mic Event in Le Terrace Restaurant and Cafe.  More than a hundred people came along to listen to poets, comics and singers from Ireland, America, Iran and Sudan.  Organised by Paul D and DJ Black Wolf it was their second show and it was great to be able to take to the stage after such a long absence.  My last performance was in October 2010 when I launched my book Kill Your Television in Lynotts on Achill Island, Ireland two months before I moved to Abu Dhabi.  Bahareh Amidi, Andree Reynolds, Adalla Ellis, Ahmed Elshafea with Hiba and Kimberley Glaspie rocked it on the night in the open air.

    
Bahareh Amidi reading one of her poems at Rooftop Rhythms.

It was a wonderful night and I look forward to the next one at the end of May.   I read Keel, Kill Your Television and The Long Goodbye.  Above  I have included a poem Innocence Personified from my collection Kill Your Television because I felt I was reborn after I performed.  A new light was shining and it hasn't stopped yet.

The Viaduct Bards - Poetry in Motion