Two Poems

Gerard Beirne

Vision of the Fear of Death

Set the hounds at the oxen, let the prey upon them.
Flush the pheasants from the tules, loose the hawks and falcons.
Cast the peacocks from the tower, quaking as they plummet.
Baste the carcass on the slab, made tender in the fear of death.

The Song of the Daysbird

Moulded into being,
I melt beneath the thumb.

A tuft of golden beeswax
rising to touch the sun.

Gerard Beirne, originally from Ireland, is a Canadian citizen. His poetry collections include Digging My Own Grave (Dedalus Press, 1997) and Games of Chance: A Gambler's Manual (Oberon Press, 2011); his novels include The Eskimo in the Net (Marion Boyars Publishers, 2003) and Turtle (Oberon Press, 2009).