February/March
2016
- Vol. 84
A selection of poems from Songs
of Hunger, by Sean O'Neill 
ONE LIFE ONLY
by Sean O'Neill
Hunger
made me.
In a pool of desire
my bones were bonded,
my living form fired
by want of life.
Clever hands coined me
by Clyde’s dark deeps,
stretching me out
into the swirling world,
reaching, tearing, longing.
Hammers taught me.
Weapons of sure order
and crystalline control
dug me deep and down
into smooth skin.
Death hugged me in.
Despairing winds shook
and raked these ribs bare.
Tears and their glinting lights
snuffed my elemental cries
Love sought me.
Pity and quarter,
out of the torpid night,
came tolling steady bells
into my dulled fractures.
Rescue met me,
mercy’s abundant stoup:
that great heart
took me up, staggered
with the wine of life.
Whispers lead me on,
blind and bound
till all has come to pass
and the glad green earth
covers my happy fault.
Air will lift me
to the blessing cup
well met in the clouds.
Hope beyond these narrows
calls to the shipwrecked, “Come.”
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This poem by (c) Sean O'Neill is from
Songs
of Hunger, a new collection of poems
published in January 2016, available at Amazon.
"The Life Line" painting by Winslow Homer
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Like
great music, fine poetry has power that can
infuse the soul, transform the mind, and
transcend the mundane everyday experience of
life with what is timeless and supreme.
Songs of Hunger is an
exceptional collection of poems – rich in
language, imagery, symbolism and breadth
of thought, feeling, and place. Sean O’Neill is a
poet of great skill and exceptional
spirit. His poems take you on a quest of
the soul in search of wholeness, healing,
cleansing, and discovering a home for the
restless heart. It is a journey of mercy
and hope, love and faith in the One who
paid the price that sets us free. You will
find plenty here to feed and nourish both
mind and spirit.
O’Neill has published five previous
collection of poems. This book not only
builds on the others – it soars to a new
level of feeling and spirit, hope and joy.
- Don Schwager
See previous
poems
in past issues of Living Bulwark
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Sean O'Neill is
originally from Glasgow, Scotland, and currently
lives in Lansing, Michigan, USA. He has published
several books, including six novels, six books
of poems, and a series of very helpful and
instructive books on a beginner's guide to writing,
including How
to Write a Poem: A Beginner's Guide.
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