Poem
Colm Breathnach
BORDER
at your temple a revolver mouthin the middle of the night
and you know you are to be shot
into the boundless eternity
because there is a border around your voice
an accent that belongs to just one place
an accent not shared by the mouth of the gun
that will leave you as a chunk of meat
beside a road
that goes nowhere
because all directions have come to an end in your case
I am filled with self-pity and terror
as I pull the trigger
© Translation: 2007, Colm Breathnach
Teora
Teora
béal gunnáin le d’uisinni lár na hoíche
is tá’s agat go bhfuilir le scaoileadh
isteach sa síoraíocht gan teora
de bhrí go bhfuil teora thart ar do ghlór
tuin ná baineann ach le dúthaigh amháin
tuin ná fuil ar bhéal an ghunnáin
a fhágfaidh tú i d’allait feola
le hais an bhóthair
ná gabhann in aon áit
de bhrí go bhfuil deireadh le treonna id chás-sa
líontar le trua dom féin mé is le hanbhá
is mé ag tarrac thruicear an ghunnáin
© 1994, Colm Breathnach
From: Scáthach
Publisher: Coiscéim, Dublin
From: Scáthach
Publisher: Coiscéim, Dublin
Poems
Poems of Colm Breathnach
Close
BORDER
at your temple a revolver mouthin the middle of the night
and you know you are to be shot
into the boundless eternity
because there is a border around your voice
an accent that belongs to just one place
an accent not shared by the mouth of the gun
that will leave you as a chunk of meat
beside a road
that goes nowhere
because all directions have come to an end in your case
I am filled with self-pity and terror
as I pull the trigger
© 2007, Colm Breathnach
From: Scáthach
From: Scáthach
BORDER
at your temple a revolver mouthin the middle of the night
and you know you are to be shot
into the boundless eternity
because there is a border around your voice
an accent that belongs to just one place
an accent not shared by the mouth of the gun
that will leave you as a chunk of meat
beside a road
that goes nowhere
because all directions have come to an end in your case
I am filled with self-pity and terror
as I pull the trigger
© 2007, Colm Breathnach
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