Poem of the Week: “Ten Day Window” by Medbh Mcguckian

In her poem “Ten Day Window,” Medbh McGuckian creates a dream-like landscape, transporting the reader through the imagery of gardens, theaters, and ballrooms. McGuckian’s poem is deeply introspective, reckoning with themes of identity and public appearance while using fragmented moments to piece together an understanding of self. “Ten Day Window” is a part of McGuckian’s newest volume of poetry, The Thankless Paths to Freedom.

– Mary Outland, WFU Press Intern

Ten Day Window

I have found that books
are of the least use when most wanted.
By the by,
I have been at the play, walking in so well
in a dress that will blush in the dark,
I whirled through the whole round
of impertinence, being forced to ask
every morning what victory there is
in a froth sort of thing, unclean orchids.

I have seen the whole opera house
turn to look at her arm and hand
on the front of the box, at the single
patch to the side of her upper lip.
Of myself there is nothing left
but an eyebrow window
in the sky garden: my soundcloud what
a bee might hear in a hive, my sapphire
needle what the moth believes.

I am flounced into diagrams of generals,
how many phone minutes till the Carpathia
responded, the Morris Room where seasons
fall from eye level into warm
grey on the floor.

Maybe it is the hardest place to be,
opening myself up yet again, forbidden
even from clenching my fists. I cannot
hardcore with my wraps, belts and chalk:
my coat of muscles is a shell to be polished.
Feel my arms, at my peak I would be considered
just bored. My pin-up posters flare
like stained-glass windows, I medicate
for the early nights, eight years down the line.

– Medbh McGuckian fromThe Thankless Paths to Freedom (2024)