By Kieran Furey (Ireland). Published in Issue 25.

ROSCOMMON,  AFTER  RAIN

Yesterday was full monsoon,

but this November morning is Canadian.

The sky is pure blue dazzle,

the last few tattered leaves becalmed

on sycamore and ash.

Yesterday was a wet blanket, dirty grey,

but the colours of today are blue and gold.

Grass and hedges shine.

The silence is pristine.

Unhurriedly, birds come and go,

like brooches moving on transparent gauze.

Smoke rises lazy from a farmhouse.

All is exactly as it seems.

Swaddled in steam, cattle congregate

at a gate in the corner of a field,

sun on tawny backs, unlowing,

patiently waiting for a feed.

Days like this are rare.

When one comes, the poet basks,

unguiltily forsaking every cause.

Today there's nothing more to ask,

and paradise on earth is, just because.

Kavanagh, you should be here for this.

Kieran Furey is from Ireland and during the 1980's and early 1990's he self-published over 20 books and booklets of short stories, satire, poetry and travel material, eventually selling over 25,000 copies of his work. He spent 6 years in Latin America, teaching English in Ecuador & Nicaragua, doing voluntary work in Cuba and travelling widely in Brazil. He won the Féile Filíochta "Poem of Europe" competition in 2006 and has won numerous competitions for poetry and prose, over the years. He regularly writes for magazines, newspapers and for the web. He lives in Longford with his family and is a member of the Lanesboro Writers Group.

This is his second publication in The Ofi Press.