Art: The Lobster

---

Poem for an Unaccompanied Voice

we sat on the
chopping stray
branches
and laughed
that was
a hundred
years ago
afterwards
we played
music at the fair
ate noodles
sitting down
later again
we painted
the porch
the wrong colour
some were
unhappy
not me
baking bread
was another
good thing
from that time
across the yard
the sound of
children’s voices
the dust of
flour
on my hands
of years

 

Love is a Decision

I was
determined
not to be
tricked
into using
words

He
hit me:
what do
I feel?

I was
about to say
pain
but said
nothingness

The days
went on
I avoided
the others
stopped
laughing
at times
it drove
me crazy
rattling
in my brain
not allowed
to think of
anything else

I jump up
and throw
it out
other times
I go down
down
down with it
down
beneath
words
where
my breath
is gentle

It’s like
looking
up
through
a lake
and
the surface
is a sentence –

what it
reads
is
nothingness
what it
says
is love

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Paul Perry is the author of five critically acclaimed collections of poetry, including, most recently, Gunpowder Valentine.  Writing under the pseudonym, Karen Perry, he is also the co-author of three bestselling psychological thrillers published by Penguin Random House, the most recent of which is Girl Unknown. He lives in Dublin, where is Fellow in the English Department at UCD.