I think every book is a journey the author/poet takes. It starts at that most embryonic stage where a few words begin to form and continues on until these and many other words are polished, printed and then bound so it officially becomes “a book”. Interwoven in all of this are the many footsteps, forward marches, U-turns, compass readings and standing still moments taken to produce the work. Then a “reading” journey begins when the book becomes independent and exposed in the world. But my second volume of poetry, This Floating World is also a journey in itself because the songline of the same name, which makes up most of the book, is an oral map of the island of Ireland.
This Floating World is presented in two parts. The first is a selection of four ‘overture’ poems that steady the reader and set the scene for the book’s title poem. The reader is guided through the songline by an omnipotent force who listens in on the intimate soliloquies of people, ghosts, birds and animals. Even the landscape and ocean have the opportunity to speak from time to time.
I decided very early in the writing process not to discuss the Troubles or provide commentary on Ireland’s unsettled history. Instead This Floating World is a treatise to, as Lisa Bellear has put it, ‘maintaining the capacity to love’. It is about being prepared to listen to the soft-hard insistence of keeping hearts open and capable of loving. And how, through this underlying anti-war theme, we honour our own connection with the world and others. Therefore This Floating World is essentially a celebration of how, in some small way, we are connected to all things.
This Floating World is also a portrait of Ireland that is faithful to the elements and the ethereal. Water holds a strong presence in Ireland, whether it is through rain, mist, bogs, loughs, waterfalls, holy wells, seas and ocean. Wind also, particularly in the west of Ireland, is a force to be reckoned with. Because of this I shaped a poetic narrative that is dictated by the direction of the wind or rain. Fluid and transient in nature, This Floating World is full of rushed thoughts, forgotten histories and quiet contemplations that reiterate transience and mutability.
This Floating World was born from an extensive road trip I embarked on when I first visited Ireland in 2005. The journey the songline takes is largely influenced by the route undertaken at that time. I was then fortunate to receive an international residency from the Australia Council for the Arts to spend time at The Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmakerrig in Newbliss (Co Monaghan) in 2008 in order to write the first draft of this book.
I thought long and hard about publically describing This Floating World as a songline because of the associations the term holds within Australia, however after much deliberation I decided to proceed for two reasons. This work travels through the landscape identifying spirit of place through the voices that speak therefore readers are able to interpret and trace locations accordingly. The other and more personal reason is that I take great spiritual solace from the Irish landscape. It is a very special place for me.
This Floating World is a work that not only explores the essence of the island of Ireland, but also the universal scope of the human condition. And it is about the workings of the heart, in all its multiplicity. After all, life is a journey through the heart.
This Floating World is now available to order from Five Islands Press (www.fiveislandspress.com/newbooks.html) and at all good bookshops.