Poem of the Week: “Late Morning” by Peter McDonald

March 1st is the release date for the highly anticipated Volume IV of The Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry. This volume brings lesser-known Irish voices to an American audience. Editor David Wheatley, himself an established poet and critic, has selected poetry by Trevor Joyce, Aidan Mathews, Peter McDonald, Ailbhe Darcy and Ailbhe Ní Ghearbhuigh. Each section is introduced with an essay by Wheatley that offers some background, context, and critical illumination. This week’s poem by Peter McDonald celebrates the early signs of the coming spring, as the ice starts to melt and the flowers are peaking from their buds.

Late Morning

No sign of me.
                    The thaw
as yet hardly begun,

and sunlight leaking through
a picture of the sun
in puddles blocked with ice;

the melt-water collecting
gradually; snow-crust
broken apart with grass:

I might have been a ghost,
a shadow, and not the guest
they had been expecting.

– Peter McDonald, The Wake Forest Series of Irish Poetry, Volume IV (2017)