in the stone,
sandwashed
brushstrokes, dappled,
tongue
the gutterwork in-steps
small feet and spores –
lightly
dancing – use to illustrate
the change
rain and its opposite bring –
all hammering
on fading, quarried rocks,
yellow and red,
white and gray,
and black –
their steady blemishes a birthing
of a falling form that frames
time
from start to finish
for those now transformed
from lovers into passersby.
Oisín Breen is published in 135 journals in 24 countries, including Agenda, Acumen, Books Ireland, Quadrant, Southword, North Dakota Quarterly and The Tahoma Literary Review. Breen has two collections, Lilies on the Deathbed of Étaín, a Scotsman poetry book-of-the-year, 2023 (Downingfield), and his well received debut, Flowers, All Sorts, in Blossom, Figs, Berries, and Fruits Forgotten (Dreich, 2020). Breen’s third collection, The Kergyma, is due Autumn/Winter 2025 (Salmon Poetry). He can be found on Twitter, Bluesky, Mastodon, and Linktree.