Speaking of Bertie... Eyewear is very glad to welcome, this Friday, one of the rising stars of the new Irish poetry - one who speaks in different ways, without fear of being thought funny, or crude, or critical (as Joyce was, or Kavanagh, or Durcan, as Irish poetry often can be, when not striving for the merely lofty).Elaine Feeney (pictured) was born in Galway in 1979. She studied English and History at University College Galway and completed postgraduate study at University College Cork and University of Limerick. She divides her time between teaching, writing and being a mother.
Feeney has been writing poetry since her teens and has published her work in journals and magazines. In 2007 she published a short joint collection entitled Indiscipline, with Dave Lordan. Known as a strong live performer of her work, Feeney has read her poetry at venues in Ireland and England, including the Cuirt International Literature Festival, Irish Film Insitute Dublin, and The White House Poetry Revival.
She lives in the countryside with her partner Ray, and her two boys Jack and Finn.
The Polish Have Caused A Crash
‘The Polish have caused a crash
On the boreen
Between Whites
And the old house.
And Brazilians
Have opened a new
Mexican restaurant beside Molloys.
Even the Chinese chef
Is giving out.
There isn’t a car with tax
And not one of the new ones
Are putting a thing into her economy
Shopping in Aldi.
They’ll screw up the new children
With their gutter genes.
John Nolan even told me
The same thing happened when
The farmers mixed Freisans
And Belgian Blues.
The moo’s out of the fuckers
Was unreal
And everyone knew it was
Because they
Weren’t true blue.
The new priest has
Lady callers
With tracksuits
And bling
Pink nails
And blow up beds.
He thinks nothing
Of drinking the new coffee in
Mocha Beans.
‘tis fucked entirely
We are fucked entirely’
poem by Elaine Feeney
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