Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh


WINTERING

I caught a stomach-sorrow
while traipsing October's fogs

I ate to nourish it
made a cocoon for it
laid it with slow reverence in a hollow

For fourteen nights
some cursed sleep's been after me

while I've been up feeding on darkness

Don't say a word
Don't look in my direction

There's something on my heart that can't be lifted

- I give in to wintering -

You won't see me till the buds start to blossom
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