Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Gerard Smyth

The History of Fog

The History of Fog

The History of Fog

Nothing bothers the man who observes
the weather in Clew Bay,
the squalls, the lacquered haze.
The quick sketch he makes
is of seacliff, rockface, sky so low it touches
the turf-meadow, the white gables.

They live on a faultline.
The people who know the history of fog,
whose tracks remain under the reek
and close to the duach.
Sea-hunters, bog-cutters,
those who lit the beacon for the lost

armada of musket men.
In the country of apparitions
a little gust becomes a gale
commodious enough to lift up
and carry away the Céide Fields
and famine village harboured in the glen.
Close

The History of Fog

Nothing bothers the man who observes
the weather in Clew Bay,
the squalls, the lacquered haze.
The quick sketch he makes
is of seacliff, rockface, sky so low it touches
the turf-meadow, the white gables.

They live on a faultline.
The people who know the history of fog,
whose tracks remain under the reek
and close to the duach.
Sea-hunters, bog-cutters,
those who lit the beacon for the lost

armada of musket men.
In the country of apparitions
a little gust becomes a gale
commodious enough to lift up
and carry away the Céide Fields
and famine village harboured in the glen.

The History of Fog

Sponsors
Gemeente Rotterdam
Nederlands Letterenfonds
Stichting Van Beuningen Peterich-fonds
Prins Bernhard cultuurfonds
Lira fonds
Versopolis
J.E. Jurriaanse
Gefinancierd door de Europese Unie
Elise Mathilde Fonds
Stichting Verzameling van Wijngaarden-Boot
Veerhuis
VDM
Partners
LantarenVenster – Verhalenhuis Belvédère