A Countdown in Poems to the Irish Arts Center PoetryFest

For the next five days Literary Hub will help in counting down the days until the seventh-annual Irish Arts Center PoetryFest begins by publishing a poem, as selected by festival co-curator Belinda McKeon. 

 

Fear, by Ciaran Carson

 

I fear the vast dimensions of eternity.

I fear the gap between the platform and the train.

I fear the onset of a murderous campaign.

1 fear the palpitations caused by too much tea.

 

I fear the drawn pistol of a rapparee.

I fear the books will not survive the acid rain.

I fear the ruler and the blackboard and the cane.

I fear the Jabberwock, whatever it might be.

 

I fear the bad decisions of a referee.

I fear the only recourse is to plead insane.

I fear the implications of a lawyer’s fee.

 

I fear the gremlins that have colonized my brain.

I fear to read the small print of the guarantee.

And what else do I fear? Let me begin again.

 

Literary Hub is a proud sponsor of Irish Arts Center PoetryFest.

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