Reading Boland's "The War Horse" (1975) Part 7

“Dependence Day” praises the snail for its industry; then commiserates with the silkworm for being forgotten when “skirts come pouring down like milk”; then asks the shadow “How necessary was your hurt?”; and finally prays to Christ to instruct the poet

So my heart might not harden
Since yours at last found light relief:
Sleeping partners in a garden,
Your final acolyte a thief.


The association between the addressees is loose and light. To its delight, the poem finds surprising phrasing for old ideas. I am surprised by its religious spirit.

__________

Reading “Dependence Day”

Today I will acknowledge
my supporters. My chair,
my desk, my wardrobe rails,
but not my bed, that edge,
and certainly not the stair
that promises and fails.

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