From Bachelors Walk

After I died and had ascended,

wafting upwards on the warm draft

of cigarette smoke and the sea breeze

like discarded rolling paper,

It became clear to me that you

were still speaking, which I found most odd.

Very strange.

*

I confess the fault may have been mine.

As we lounged in July sunshine

With our drinks and our jokes and chat,

And the buzz of warmed earth and

The indescribable something

Sexy in the air. T'was remiss of me,

To perish on the spot.

*

Our reunion day, as ever.

We oldest of friends, brothers always

In laughter and music, chasing girls,

With healthy rivalry, and caring

For each other's scattergun minds.

And hearts, these ten years past.

*

We met on Bachelor's Walk at noon,

The old joke, now tradition. Hugging,

As the River Liffey waltzed along below,

Rapid-fire chatting and swapping stories

As we crossed the Ha'Penny Bridge to

Find a place to wet the swab and drink a toast.

*

We spoke in Irish of course, when

A group of pretty tourist girls

Wandered up, with maps and legs

To sit outside at tables near us,

Remarking that they always heard

The weather to be awful here,

While topping up their sun-cream.

*

And when they heard us talking as Gaeilge

About them, our different dialects

Duelling with smut and wit; Yours the

Flatter, softer South East rhumba and

Mine the sing-song slide of the North,

The girls all cooed, and said 'so cute'

And came to join us.

*

They came for you, if truth be told,

The handsome one, with luporchán wit

And that cityboy sparkle, while I

Tried to twinkle bruise-bag eyes, In

A face like a busted bag of

Rusty nails dropped from a one-wheel

Wagon into a mouldy cellar.

*

I was the clúrachán, of course, and

We two loner-friends led the troop

Of your new conquests through Temple Bar

And to the Hogwarts gate, where we

Stepped away from the street-side bustle,

Into the hallowed, sepulchre hush

Of the cobblestone campus.

*

On to the Pavilion, where the

White-clad cricketers be-sported

For a lazy crowd of sun-grass

Drinkers, who talked and flirted, slowly

Lulled to burning by the leather

Thud of ball on bat, forsaking

All other plans to live the day.

*

The Spanish-fly sun took effect

On all of us it seemed, and you, the

Master of these moments, had charmed

The wilder side of these girls; all

Irish or Half-Irish, Celtic blood

Warming, bewitched into loving

Your mad Hibernian mischief.

*

As I sat to one side, fidgeting

And unwilling, or unable,

To compete at the same level

Of energy, when the day was so

Fine, and the world called for us all to

Slowly drift along with placid ease.

Or was it shyness?

*

I went alone to get more drinks,

The motivational speaker in my chest

Telling me to grasp on to the day,

As I tried to remember gin and

Tonic combinations, when a voice,

Unsure, called out to me, half-guessing who

I was, blind-throwing my name.

*

I felt the death-slide start then, old friend,

When she walked towards me, smiling

In a shy, uncertain way, that took

A pick-axe to my chest and smashed

Cynicism to smidiríní

With such force that the tray almost

Bolted from my grasp.

*

She wore a simple summer dress

Of burnt yellow and had her red hair,

That I longed to bury my face

Into and die; of curling, glowing,

Terracotta, tied up to show

Her shoulders and slender neck.

The poet in me yelped.

*

Exquisite features, classical

Yet humour-bound, kissed by a blush

As she bit her lip and waited

For my lengthy coma to subside

And I smiled and agreed with her,

That I was indeed my own name.

Then she asked for you.

*

Of course she asked for you, why else

Would this harvest aisling want a word

With me? I suppose you made the plans,

Inviting her to join in with

The illusion-dance of the day.

One of your would-be girls, whom

I could not help but be entranced by.

*

I lead her back to the circle,

And let me confess to you, brother,

That without the merest shadow

Of a doubt in hell, I had fallen

Hard and fast for this girl of yours

Whose warmth was a fire beside me

As we made small talk.

*

If pushed to make a choice at all,

Between this apparition, this

Pagan force of summer days and

Dreamless, yearning nights, and you, my

Friend of ten years now, I fear that

You would be the one I shoved away

From the lifeboat, with a cheery wave.

*

And as this thought consoled me, we neared

The circle of our group. I braced

Myself for all the power that you

Can muster on demand and waited,

But just a nodded smile hello,

And you carried on the telling of

Some ribald anecdotal tale.

*

She settled down beside me then,

Kicking off her shoes and stretching

Porcelain toes like a sun-blissed cat,

And leaned on one hand, chatting away,

Smiling and rolling, with a grin,

Smouldering eyes of walnut, that

Found my own again, and again.

*

At one point, deep into one of

Your more hilarious tales, in that

Way you have of building me up

As the comic hero, at which the

Tourist girls noted your gallantry,

She shifted closer in towards me.

I found I could not breathe.

*

Her hair had come undone at the side,

And spilled, a cinnamon wave that

Splashed on her shoulder and fell

Into the narrow gap between us.

She took the beer from unresisting,

Nerveless, fingers, and drank then, a slow

Draught to quench the heat.

*

Resting against my arm then, her

Toes gently nudging against mine,

And her smile, so close, efficiently

Killed me stone-dead on the grass so that

Elated, my soul floated in an ear-popping

Whoosh of sudden, exhilarated

Momentary loss of meagre life.

*

We sat there for an endless time,

Nearly silent, singing without words,

As you and your cohort of eager

Girls made drunken noise to screen us both.

Your secret plan of course, all this

You Casanova Valentine,

You solid-gold, life-saving prick.

*

As the shadows drew longer there,

And the breeze carried forth a bite

I saw you make your move with the girls

Who had played you just as craftily

And caught your wink as you left for sport.

I cast a water-spell of luck on

You, with my beer then, in gratitude.

*

We sat alone and kissed awhile,

In the rose-garden by the law-school,

The sundial in the corner watching

And now redundant. We walked out

To the city-noise and through the streets,

Hand-in-hand over Ha'Penny Bridge,

Heart-beaming along Bachelors walk.