Deutschland
by Kenneth Hickey
Beneath the cold darkness of bleak midwinter
He stares at the clouded moon
Streaked with light as grass on the wind
Returns him
to when moonlight parties were new
He wore a jester’s cloak
And thought it magnificent
They wheel like dervishes before the campfire
As always a girl
Red hair like the dancing flame
An unreachable Paris
In a tame Cologne garden
Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain
And coolly rebuffed
As Penelope’s suitors
Your heart was always harder than a rock!
It grows dimmer
… dimmer still…
Photo by Pawel Czerwinski.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR: The poem is a reflection on a student exchange to Germany when I was 17, over 30 years ago.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Born in 1975 in Cobh, County Cork, Ireland, Kenneth Hickey served in the Irish Naval Service between 1993 and 2000. His poetry and prose have been published in various literary journals in Ireland, the UK, and the United States, including Southword, Crannoig, THE SHOp, A New Ulster, Aesthetica Magazine, and The Great American Poetry Show. His writing for theatre has been performed in Ireland, the UK, New York, and Paris. He has won the Eamon Keane Full-Length Play Award and was shortlisted for The PJ O’Connor Award and the Tony Doyle Bursary. Shortlisted for the Bournmouth Poetry Prize in 2022, he was selected for the Poetry in the Park project and awarded a poetry mentorship by Munster Literature Centre. His work in film has been screened at the Cork and Foyle Film Festivals. He holds a BA and MA in English Literature from University College Cork. His debut collection The Unicycle Paradox was published by Revival Press in November 2021. He still resides in Cork.
Silver Birch Press 