CAUGHT


​
A stone-still face,
A clink
And a wink.

An ethereal presence
Trailing a fishnet floozie.

Moving statues are harder to catch,
But caught he was.  

Now there's no clink
And no wink,
Just that familiar voice        
Floating in
On radio waves.
                   







The Birth of Signs 



(After an essay on Miro by Jacques Dupin)


​



How does an ear of grain
turn into a kiss?


In a process of alternation,
alliteration and implosion
whereby the level table
on which it rests
is atomised,
its powder rouging
a new flat boundless space;
its stem abbreviates
to the smooth calculus
of union;
its kernels morph
into wayward murmurs;
and its tendrils become
the guttering flames
of love.





Bio: Alan Murphy is the Irish writer and illustrator of three collections of poetry for young readers. Dublin-born, he currently lives in Lismore, county Waterford. His latest collection, Prometheus Unplugged, was listed in a children’s and young adults’ books of the year article in the Irish Times. He has been featured in children’s poetry anthologies in the UK and America.“A lot of incredible talent has emerged recently from Ireland. Alan Murphy is one of the them.” - Anastasia Gonis, Buzz Words Magazine