What might she conclude from this? Old scars sing, even in absence.
Doireann Ní Ghríofa, To Star the Dark
Happy publication day to this wonderful poetry collection from Doireann Ní Ghríofa.
I first discovered Ní Ghríofa’s writing when I read A Ghost in the Throat at the start of this year and I’ve been captivated by her work ever since. So when I heard she had a new poetry collection being published, I pre-ordered it immediately. And it did not disappoint.
To Star the Dark is an incredibly moving selection of work that had me captivated from beginning to end. As with her most recent work, she has an ability to make the ordinary extraordinary.
The poems in this collection are enchanting and moving. I was with her in the store in While Bleeding; I felt her fear in Prayer and Seven Postcards from a Hospital. I missed the every day in Hearing ‘The Boatman’s Call’ in a Boston Laundromat.
In particular there are three poems in the collection that I’ve re-read multiple times over the past week: Escape: A Chorus in Capes; Waking Again; and Lunulae. They are vulnerable and powerful and I urge everyone to read them.
I feel like Ní Ghríofa’s writing has helped me through this third lockdown here in Ireland. I read A Ghost in the Throat in January, watched the documentary To the Moon as part of the Dublin Film Festival in March (where I first came across the poem Lunulae), and now this collection arrived in time for Easter weekend. Hopefully by the time her next work is released, I’ll be able to go to a bookshop to purchase it. I look forward to it.
whatkatythoughtnext 