150 years of the irish times

The Irish Times has in its long history only ever accomplished one worthwhile thing. They provoked me into writing the most astonishingly dark elusive elegiacally gothic poem in the English language. About a decade ago, an Irish Times feature writer innocently enquired: "Why does the Catholic church have such difficulty attracting great minds?" I was rather struck by the irony of the little atheist's overblown self image. I decided to show all the little atheists what real atheism is. In between I would teach them that the Catholic mind is the only mind that really dares to speculate. For them I wrote...

bleak heart

a boy stands in a field above the town
he does not know what the years will bring
dark night touches him and the rain
his spirit leaps in his imagining

a man writes at table in the dark
he wonders of all things what we are
spirits creatures matter worse
pitched forth comets about a dying star

tell me if all time is one time
and what is was and will be
was the boy already corrupt as he looked upon the town
am i already dead as i write