Poem

Theo Dorgan

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Original language

The Second Fortune

The Second Fortune

The Second Fortune

Between what is and what is not
we walked, the Huntress loosed a shot.

Before and after, we were there –
the arrow pierced but singing air.

That, my love, was quite an art,
to be together and apart

yet we, transparent, without fear –
what were we but singing air?

© 1995, Theo Dorgan
From: What This Earth Cost Us
Publisher: Dedalus, Dublin

Theo Dorgan

Theo Dorgan

(Ireland, 1953)

Theo Dorgan was born in 1953 into a large working-class family on Cork City’s Northside. He was educated at the North Monastery, where he was taught in Irish and was a contemporary of the poet Gerry Murphy. He went on to obtain graduate and postgraduate degrees in philosophy and English literature from University College Cork. He later taught there while simultaneously managing the literature p...

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The Second Fortune

Between what is and what is not
we walked, the Huntress loosed a shot.

Before and after, we were there –
the arrow pierced but singing air.

That, my love, was quite an art,
to be together and apart

yet we, transparent, without fear –
what were we but singing air?

From: What This Earth Cost Us

The Second Fortune

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