Aftermath: Poems of Repair and Renewal

The collection of poems in this book about Aftermath are my responses to events and experiences across my lifetime from my birth in 1954 in Dublin. The Ireland of my youth was conservative, catholic and nationalist. God, family, the Catholic Church and the nation loomed large in my life.

In my experience, a woman’s voice was not appreciated unless she spoke softly and deferred to men or even boys. I learned to stand up and to speak out and to use my voice in protest or in joy. To many this meant I was cheeky or direct meaning outspoken and unfeminine. I can laugh at this now but at times it intruded upon my sense of how I wanted to be in the world.

While my poems talk about legacies and aftermath, they also tell of love, repair and renewal.