After Narkissos-Beyond by John Philip Murray, 2015
In memoriam J.J.M.
I.
He has reached the world below
breaks through as a gull dives for fish
the stream is calm above, mirror image
reflects the sky, water laps
at the forest roots
the world is upside down.
A magician throws a bolt of linen dyed to blue
a loose thread unravels
Narkissos hangs upside down, half above
half below, frozen in time.
A stage is set, curtain raised
all darkness beyond.
II.
Paint does not quell
the sound of breaking water
or silence the cry of a mother
and wife.
A December day you breached the cold
on or about the first.
Ripples close over
as brown paper covers a book —
the yellow eyed dace kept you company
even though your eyes were closed.
Unlike Narkissos, they pulled you out
sodden and too heavy to hold.
[Originally published in Agenda, 2023]
Bernadette Gallagher is a poet from Ireland. The Risen Tree (Revival Press, 2024) is her first poetry collection. Her work has been published in Cyphers, Crannóg, Agenda, The Stinging Fly, The North, The Tablet, Stony Thursday, The Frogmore Papers and Southword. bernadettegallagher.blogspot.ie