☛ We are inviting submission in the field of literature and literary theory in the form of article, book review, poem, short story, travelogue and interview for our regular April issue (Vol. 6, No. 2). The last date for submission is 31 March, 2025.

PLUNKETT’S WEDDING - Mike Jenkins (U.K.)



PLUNKETT’S  WEDDING

 

-         Mike Jenkins (U.K.)

 

In the prison chapel where we sit

Joseph Plunkett and his darling Grace 

Before the last rites the wedding vows

Utter silence except “I do” - 

Before he’s taken to his cell 

And she back to her black cat -

Before they meet for the last time 

Under the dome of Kilmainham Gaol

For ten timed minutes of holding hands 

In that heaviest quiet 

Before the yard the firing squad 

The justice of the British empire -

Where she was to return 

To mural her cell wall with the madonna -

In the spy-hole circle the halo 

Of a woman who knew

The lily grew close to her bare feet.

 

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