Dublin by Jennifer deBie


Dublin
by Jennifer deBie

Texas, Ireland, California

Someone once told me it wasn’t named after the Irish one,
that the name came from pioneers,
the way settlers doubled-in their wagons at night.
Concentric rings against the dark, 
the wild,
they came to tame.

Cork’s better, I mutter the second time a tourist stumbles into us.
Crossing Temple Bar, headed to the quay,
Michelle reminds me that I didn’t have to come to the capital for Paddy’s. 
and then, when a pack of Trinity kids dressed as ninja turtles wade past, 
we giggle, know that’s a lie.

A friend in an unfamiliar city with a very familiar name
asks for a poem and I write him a blessing instead.

May you find traditions. 
May they make you laugh. 
May you find the courage, 
for your future in your past.
May your hills always be green. 
May your gin always be strong.
May the path beneath be smooth, 
and your journey sweet, and long.

Submit your polished poetry for the opportunity of being published on ViewlessWings.com and being interviewed on The Viewless Wings Poetry Podcast.

Jennifer deBie is a native Texan living in Ireland where she earned an MA in Creative Writing from University College Cork in 2017 and recently finished a PhD in Mary Shelley. She has been widely published with works appearing in anthologies by Raven Chronicles Press, PactPress, and Kallisto Gaia Press, something that neither impresses her cat nor pays her rent.

Her debut novel, The Adventures of Dogg Girl and Sidekick, was published 2020, her second novel, Heretic, is forthcoming from Wild Wolf Press in summer 2022. When not reading, writing, or teaching her seminar on plague literature, Jennifer enjoys typical millennial pastimes like eating brunch and neglecting her blog at jenniferdebie.com

She can also occasionally be caught on Instagram @debiejenni

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