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