Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Tuesday poem #160 : Mairéad Byrne : Was it dreary



or was it beautiful?
The dreary people seemed to think
it was beautiful.  
It was dazzling.
Was it dreary
or was it beautiful?
The beautiful people seemed to think
it was dreary. So ugly.
The beautiful people were suddenly
startlingly ugly.
The dreary people were beautiful.
I flitted between the two.
Beautiful.  Ugly.  Dreary.  Dazzling.
Afraid to stay with the dreary people
in case it turned out they were not dazzling after all.
Or return to the beautiful people who may not be just ugly
but evil.


Mairéad Byrne emigrated from Ireland to the United States in 1994.  In Ireland she worked as a journalist, hospital orderly, arts administrator, playwright and teacher. Her books include five collections of poetry, five book collaborations with visual artists and a selected poems Famosa na sua cabeça (Famous in Your Head), translated and edited by Dirceu Villa (São Paulo: Dobra Editorial 2015). She earned a PhD in Theory and Cultural Studies (Purdue University 2001) and works as a Professor of Poetry + Poetics at Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.

the Tuesday poem is curated by rob mclennan

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