Poetry International Poetry International
Poem

Bernard O’Donoghue

TETRAPODS

TETRAPODS

TETRAPODS

Keen to encounter mysteries, 
we all went to examine the footsteps 
at Gleannamuckla, permanent imprints 
on the grass where during the Land War 
the assassin jumped from the ditch 
after firing the fatal shot.

Remarkable enough in their way: 
two shaggy indentations, 
shaped like snowshoes. But not as ominous 
for our times as the eight spirited stallions 
penned in a small farmyard just nearby 
around a haybarn full of last year’s hay,

forelegs flashing, teeth bared, spoiling 
for a fight. We kept our distance, 
on the safe side of the comforting barbed wire.
Close

TETRAPODS

Keen to encounter mysteries, 
we all went to examine the footsteps 
at Gleannamuckla, permanent imprints 
on the grass where during the Land War 
the assassin jumped from the ditch 
after firing the fatal shot.

Remarkable enough in their way: 
two shaggy indentations, 
shaped like snowshoes. But not as ominous 
for our times as the eight spirited stallions 
penned in a small farmyard just nearby 
around a haybarn full of last year’s hay,

forelegs flashing, teeth bared, spoiling 
for a fight. We kept our distance, 
on the safe side of the comforting barbed wire.

TETRAPODS

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
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