Love-Child
Brendan Kennelly
Because the love-child in her belly stirred
She understood the stirring of the sea
And scorned in silence every hollow word
They thought consoled her wordless misery.
She knew the agony of the shot bird,
The threat to lovers' ecstasy;
Her cousins prattled on, she scarcely heard
But stared straight at the fire, then suddenly
Got up and quit the house of platitude
Where a small ring of astonished people sat
Looking at each other first, then at the flame
While she, tasting the air of solitude,
Felt them recede into the night
And in the private darkness, breathed his name.
