Le Cannet's Head artwork by Penny Stuart

“Ach i ndáiríre, tarlaíonn rudaí uafásacha, de bharr laige an duine, ach is féidir glacadh leis an mbealach ina bhaintear amach an cuspóir más tír í a bhfuil beocht inti arís –” “Ní féidir glacadh le rud dá laghad! Ní féidir liom glacadh riamh le bealaí olca bréagacha cruálacha, ní airím glacadh le fanaicigh a bhraitheann é sin mar leithscéal! Más féidir liom aithris a dhéanamh ar Romain Rolland, tír a ghlacann le bealaí olca – béasa olca, caighdeáin eitic – ar feadh glúine, beidh an tír chomh nimhithe sin nach mbainfidh sí amach riamh cuspóir maith.”

ENGLISH Before the Storm

by David Butler

Prophecy in the poem is not a mere divination but a quiet scrutiny of seemingly peaceful nature. It is a moment captured in all its beauty and terror, put in emotional and

There is a moment, before the storm, when the winds hold their breath; the boughs stop moving; the cloud, backlit, is photograph-still; the lake’s meniscus reverent. A moment in suspense. An instant, when future imperfect appears to hang in the balance; when the dice have yet to fall, the first fat drops to explode in the dust-tormented earth.

Ellecia Vaughan, Nightmare prophecy in white