This sonnet from my latest collection Angel Hour (2021) is based on a heart-shaped stone in the wall of a former convent school on O'Connell Avenue, Limerick City, not far from where I live.
Who keeps re-painting the stone bright red?
I suggest an answer to this question in the second part of the poem.
THE HEART IN THE WALL
In the boundary wall of a convent school
close to my home, there’s a heart-shaped stone
under hanging leaves. Half-meshed in sleep,
I’m waiting at a bus-stop by the wall
to join the morning rush-hour’s obsequies,
and notice that the stone has been redone
bright red, the scrawl of teen initials gone:
a valentine shines nameless under boughs.
A boy once loved a girl who took the veil,
choosing the ghostly company of saints.
An old man now, at night he travels still
once or twice a year to rejuvenate
the heart contained within the convent wall.
Somebody holds a torch for him; he paints.
© Ciaran O'Driscoll 2021
This is such a beautiful poem, I wonder if this stone means something to you even though (i think) you're not the one painting it bright red, it must be something significant to you and apart of your memories, reminding you of home?
ReplyDeletethis is beautifully written, is your second stanza inspired by a book or a memory, a film?