valhalla

a feasting hall of the dead

the place is thronged

with anonymous provincial poets

the walls ring with their songs

and far down sit the few

who won great fame whilest yet alive

 

and in this place

where triumph and pretension are ripped bear

and fame and fancy torn to dust

yeats and shakespeare dog the heels

of one such

Ciaran Smith

pleading for his favour

vying for his attention

he in turn

is kind to them