Nr. 11

Verse Universe Landscapes Canvas

And

Nebula Order

(V.U.L.C.A.N.O.)

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The Cord

Leanne O'Sullivan                                                  

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I used to lie on the floor for hours after


school with the phone cradled between


my shoulder and my ear, a plate of cold


rice to my left, my school books to my right.


Twirling the cord between my fingers


I spoke to friends who recognized the


language of our realm. Throats and lungs


swollen, we talked into the heart of the night,


toying with the idea of hair dye and suicide,


about the boys who didn’t love us,


who we loved too much, the pang


of the nights. Each sentence was


new territory, like a door someone was


rushing into, the glass shattering


with delirium, with knowledge and fear.


My Mother never complained about the phone bill,


what it cost for her daughter to disappear


behind a door, watching the cord


stretching its muscle away from her.


Perhaps she thought it was the only way


she could reach me, sending me away


to speak in the underworld.


As long as I was speaking


she could put my ear to the tenuous earth


and allow me to listen, to decipher.


And these were the elements of my Mother,


the earthed wire, the burning cable,


as if she flowed into the room with


me to somehow say, Stay where I can reach you,


the dim room, the dark earth. Speak of this


and when you feel removed from it


I will pull the cord and take you


back towards me.   

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(From Waiting for My Clothes, 2004 - Bloodaxe Books)


Copyright 2004 Leanne O’Sullivan.


All rights reserved.


Reproduced with permission
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Leanne O'Sullivan was born in 1983, and comes from the Beara peninsula in West Cork. She received an MA in English from University College, Cork in 2006. The winner of several of Ireland's poetry competitions, including the Seacat/Poetry Ireland, Davoren Hanna and RTE Rattlebag Poetry Slam, she has published two collections, both from Bloodaxe, Waiting for My Clothes (2004) and Cailleach; The Hag of Beara (2009). In 2009 was awarded the Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary Award, nominated by Professor Michael Longley.