The 1916 issue of the Boyne Berries literary magazine has any number of interesting poems and indeed the intro by Orla Fay notes from the pieces submitted the recurring outline of the man who was Padraic Pearse and poses the question, "Who was this giant?". And I suppose it's a question that been asked and answered a good many times over the past hundred years but few reflect on that he seems to have written it up before it even happened, though Tom Dredge's poem, "Revolution 1916" notes his dream but laments its play out in the modern state, also noting Patrick Devaney's, "Easter Monday, 1916". The poem about Francis Sheehy-Skeffington by Tim Dyer, "First Martyr" marks out someone who more than deserves a mention in any account of what happened and he was forgotten in many of the events and perhaps the poem puts that to rights in some way. "Epsom, 1913", by Clare McCotter borrows from the great poem by Yeats and helps to redress the balance in that women and their campaign for equal rights and such were written out both then and now. The performance of the night though surely must go to Órla Ní Shéaghdha, "The Boy Soldiers", and perhaps the most original if you're going to go for it at all was the humorous piece of prose writing by Caroline Carey Finn, "Lost in a Rising". Amanda Bell's "Remembrance" though short leaves you with a question at the end, "who are you?" I suppose no issue of Boyne Berries would be complete without a poem by Rory O' Sullivan and his talent for Gothic verse and in this instance, "Ashland" and also his cover design are to par as usual. Orla Fay in her editorial cautions against judging a poem on its first or even second reading and very good advice indeed and her own poem,"First Frost in the Park" remembers the boy who called, "Mother" and good that he's remembered. But cherry picking somewhere it has to be Sligo or Sligo and you'll have to purchase a copy to find out what those poems are. Boyne Berries link to the right!
