An Introduction to Dermot Bolger

Possibility

Just leave yourself open to the possibility
That one dawn you wake to find your mind clear, 

One dawn you win back the love you derailed,
One dawn you kick the habit of blaming yourself.

One dawn you will wake to hear a clear signal,
A wavelength unmuffled by inference or static,

You will recognise the DJ’s voice as your own
Advertising a unique extravaganza treasure hunt
Where each clue is a signpost through your past.

You will walk through a maze of sleeping estates,
Collecting golden tickets concealed amid mistakes
Made when addiction stopped you thinking straight.

That dawn, when figures emerge amidst the chaos,
You will walk forward, unafraid to embrace happiness.

Dermot Bolger is fast becoming one of my favourite current Irish writers and not just because I got to enjoy one of his wonderful creative writing workshops at the INOTE (Irish National Organisation for Teachers of English) conference yesterday.  A prolific writer of plays, novels and poetry as well as a generous teacher of creative writing, his writing is always gripping, vivid and honest.

The poem above comes from the Night & Day Project which aims to capture a day in the life of contemporary Dublin.  It is full of arresting poems and images such as Neilstown Matadors and Flowers Mark the Spot.

To teen readers I would highly recommend his thrilling novel New Town Soul described here:  

"It’s a gripping thriller set in the south Dublin suburb of Blackrock. It’s an unsettling supernatural horror story. It’s a tenderly evocative look at teenage friendship and romance. It’s a reminder to be careful what you wish for. And it’s the story of Joey, a shy teenager whose ambitious musician father died in a car crash when Joey was a baby."

Find out more about his other writings here.