‘Hanging House in a Canal’ by Mary O’Donnell

It lay on the other side,
the colour of country butter.
I longed to enter any way I could –
by door, window, chimney,
found it locked.
But there was a reflection –
clear as a mirror in the still waters,
the raised brows of dormer windows as it hung there –
upside down, the poking nose of the porch,
the comforting torso of walls.
I stripped off, knew immediately what to do –
dived, entered that beckoning house,
its bubbling whispers an embrace
as I burst through its porch reflection.
Now within, I am drowning
in secrets, in the company of
water-rats, diving herons, grey roach
and crayfish.
With my own, as always.

From issue #8: spring/summer 2019

About the Author
Mary O’Donnell is a poet, novelist and short-story writer. A book of essays on her work, Giving Shape to the Moment: the Art of Mary O’Donnell, was published by Peter Lang in 2018. Empire (Arlen House 2018), a collection of linked stories, is in its third printing. She is a member of Aosdána.