Harp in Hand
The Spanish Arch
……………echoes eons —
……………………….ascending, plumbing, seducing
…………………………………….the ancient lyre of Brian Boru.
The harpist plinks airs
……………conjured from his cadent rosewood curves
………………………..as harp-embossed coins tumble into his tweed cap
…………………………………………………on the windswept quay.
I close my eyes and lean against the rough
………………………………………damp of Galway’s ancient city wall
……………………………………………………as the Corrib rushes to a rising sea.
And I said, let grief be a fallen leaf at the dawning of the day.
……………His eyes half closed—godwit fingers conjuring
……………………………………..the Otherworld.
……………………………………………………On Raglan Road—away from me,
…………………………………………………………………………………………………….so hurriedly.
……………His wistful melody descends
……………………………..into pools of lament. With a sadness
………………………………………upon me I allow
I had loved not as I should, a creature made of clay—
………………………..and slowly, slowly—
………………………………………I recall all the harpists—
………………………………………………………………..all the song-makers—
……………………………………………………………………………………………all the songs—
© KM ONeill
Kate O’Neill has served as an educator for more than three decades, including as Chancellor of the University of New Mexico-Taos and as the New Mexico Secretary of Higher Education. She holds graduate degrees from Harvard University and completed an MFA in Creative Writing at the Institute of American Indian Arts in 2018. Her poems have appeared in Poetry Ireland Review, Pangolin Review, Taos Journal of Poetry, Skylight 47 and in numerous anthologies. Her handmade letterpress chapbook, Emulsifying Fires: Ansel Adams in New Mexico (2022), was printed on a 1909 cast-iron press and is now out of print. Her debut collection, Harp in Hand: Poems of Ireland, is forthcoming (3: A Taos Press, 2026). Kate holds dual United States-Irish citizenship and spends time each year in her heart home of Galway. The remainder of the year she lives with her family and dogs in Northern New Mexico.
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