Poem of the Week: “Missing” by John McAuliffe

In “Missing,” John McAuliffe tackles the passing of time by painting the scenes of forgotten landscapes now reclaimed by nature. As the poem progresses, the theme shifts towards death and the return of all things to the Earth, before finishing on a more somber and mysterious tone hinting us back towards the title.

Missing

A yearling in a drained dyke,
a carthorse where the stream changed course,
a Shetland in a quarry in Kanturk,
a skull (unknown) beneath the floor

of the stepdancers’ ruined house,
a goat’s head that made the wind sound,
a king’s ransom that was paid twice.
A rumor taking root underground.

– John McAuliffe, from Selected Poems (2022)