The Ofi Press Magazine

Peadar O'Donoghue (Ireland)

Published in issue 33 of The Ofi Press.

Poetry is what gets lost in translation

I don't do it because

(I do do it because)

I want to change things

(I want things)

This is for everyone

(This is for us)

This is for us!

(This is for me)

Revolution

(My evolution)

Jobs for all!

(Jobs for the boys)

New wave!

(New clique)

Black

(White)

Tomorrow!

(Yesterday)

Dogs of war

(Love cats)

Poetry for all!

(Poetry means fuck all)

I'm in it for the art

(I'm in it for the money)

Workshops

(I'm in it for the money)

Grants

(Give me the money)

Bursaries

(Give me the money)

Weekend retreat

(Give me the money)

Trip abroad

(Give me the money)

Truth

(Double speak)

Poetry

(Means to an end)

In the zone

Bubbling in the bloodstream, SHINING!

Sell your soul for 15 minutes on this street.

Buy yourself an Island just to name it ‘No Man’

I want to be adored, don’t want to be bored,

there is a small paradise on the edge of every corner,

starfish on the pavement, jewels in our eyes,

like stars, like dreams, like a reality.

The very best of anything,

fat rat sewer soup,

blood-stained cracked windscreen,

legs twitching at the end of a rope,

Styrofoam chalice offered up from

20 feet below the bottom rung,

Look at us!! Boardwalk brothers

we shine. Oh! How we shine!