The Rushy Field Book

This collection contains about 70 poems extremely diverse in style and treatment. Most of these poems are founded in my own personal experiences as a child in Belfast, as an evacuee in Co. Tyrone in 1941, in my travels in France and America, and in more familiar places like Strangford, Dunluce, Lecale, and most especially the Mountains of Mourne. Many of the poems are narrative. 'Tristan Dubois' is a French officer who landed with Humbert in Mayo in 1798; 'Omaha Flynn' is a desperado who has survived the Irish famine and the cruelties of General Custer. There is also a new version of the story of the Children of Lir. A recurrent theme is the courage of the ordinary people of Belfast. "Ode to a Doffer" was written in praise of all those who toiled in the mills and factories, the foundries and brickyards. Their graves are unmarked but their names are known in heaven as must surely be the names of the poor and destitute who are buried in nameless graves in Milltown and other cemeteries. A few spiritual verses have been inserted. Perhaps they illustrate the saying that poets rush in where angels fear to tread. Romantic love - seen from a distance - is also included. I was told that on this subject there is nothing new to be said. I have attempted to belie that statement. Finally, as a kind of farewell or envoi, is the Poem "Birthday" which records the sorrows and satisfaction of reaching an eightieth anniversary and still paddling on.Read More