Ag Scornaigh a Chéile

Abair leis gan ligint do bhronntanaisí saibhre ná maoin mhór ná brabús é a dhalladh ar na lagracháin is a bhfulaingt.

Audacht Morainn, c. 700 AD

Anois, agus blianta méithe
An tsolamais tréigthe
Is a luas caillte
Ag rás na bhfrancach,
Tá iomaitheoirí ró-iomadúil.

Conas réiteach
Le scéal dá leithéid,
Le barraíocht míolra
Míchaoithiúla?
Úsáid an Módh Dúitseach:

Scata francach i mbuicéad gan bia,
Fágtar iad go dtéann
an gorta i bhfeidhm,
Go dtiteann an té is laige
le fiacla na coda eile.

Agus ar aghaidh sa tslí sin
Ad nauseum
Go bhfágtar francach tréan amháin
Le dúil foghlamtha
I mblas fheol a chineáil féin.

Anois, do churadh faighte,
Scaoil amach é
chun fiaigh is canablachta
Is ní fada go mbeidh do thigh
Ina thír bhánaithe.

At Each Other’s Throats

Tell him not to let rich presents nor great wealth nor profit blind him to the weak ones and their suffering
The Judgement of Morainn, c. 700 AD

Now, with the years
of fat abandoned
and the rat race
losing it’s velocity
competitors are too plentiful.

How to deal with
Such a quandary,
A surfeit
Of inconvenient vermin?
Use the Dutch Method:

A scatter of rats in a bucket
Without food,
Left until hunger does it’s trick,
Till the weakest falls
To the other’s teeth.

And so on
Ad nauseum
Until one strong rat remains
With a learned taste
For the flesh of his own kind.

Now, your champion found,
Set him free
To hunt and cannibalise
And shortly your house
Is a forsaken land.

Rugadh Simon Ó Faoláin i mBaile Átha Cliath agus thánaig sé chun coinbhlíochta in Iarthar Dhuibhneach. Foilsíodh a chuid filíochta i mórchuid irisí, Feasta, Comhar, An Guth, Cyphers, Irish Pages, The Stinging Fly agus Poetry Ireland Review ina measc. Bhuaigh sé Duais Cholm Cille sna blianta 2008 agus 2010. Bhuaigh a chéad chnuasach, Anam Mhadra (Coiscéim 2008) Duais Glen Dimplex na Gaeilge agus Duais Eithne agus Rupert Strong. Beidh a tarna chnuasach, As Gaineamh á bhfoilsiú an mhi seo chughainn.

Simon Ó Faoláin was born in Dublin and raised in West Kerry. His poetry has been published in many journals including Feasta, Comhar, An Guth, Cyphers, Irish Pages, The Stinging Fly and Poetry Ireland Review. He won the Colmcille prize in 2008 and again in 2010. His first collection Anam Mhadra (Coiscéim 2008) won the Glen Dimplex Irish prize and the Eithne and Rupert Strong Prize. His second collection, As Gaineamh, will be published next month.