Monday 29 August 2022

Three Poems by Gordon Ferris

 


When my genie appears 


 

When my genie appears  

I won't waste my wishes  

on little things  

only things that change  all our worlds 

 

when you see the world  

only   in black and white  

you will never see  

the light in the eyes of a loved one  

or the purple on a leaf  

 

I don't focus on the flowers  

that fill the air with fragrance  

Or the drawings on the wall 

Of a far distant place 

  

 

No, I don't focus on the sound 

of the radio host saying,  

the church is bad  

or sex out of wedlock is bad  

or how it's OK to come out,  

or to say  that you are very sad 

And how you are filled with dread 

and are afraid to say it  

because they'll label you as mad 

 

I will not use them  

on the things, I can already change  

only on the things that  bring joy and hope




                                                                   Who are You?

no one special 

 

through the lace curtain   

I am invisible to the world  

I am A mirror looking out. 

apart, safe from being judged. 

 

from the outside  

movement can be seen  

sudden movement  

heads turning 

 

does anyone really care 

who we are   

what we say 

they just nod  

go on their way. 

 

before I walk into a room 

I freeze  

move on past    

pretend to myself  

I made a mistake  

the fear wasn't real  

I just walk  on around the block  

shake off the cobwebs of doubt 

ask why  would - I - be noticed 

 

no need to plan  

every word in advance  

or anticipate the answer  

Doesn't make sense  

 

life is never that predictable 

no one is going to notice you   

why would they  

Who are You?  

no one special 

 

 

 

 The Outsider 

 

she whispers secrets 

with her best friends 

she looks for comfort  

where she can find it 

she hopes  

against  

all hope 

against 

all logic 

and against all of 

her vast experience  

that maybe  

just once 

the loser  

the least one 

they expect 

just might win.





Gordon Ferris was born and raised in Finglas, a North West suburb of Dublin. In the early eighties, he moved to Donegal where he has lived ever since. He started writing in 2014 and has had many short stories and poems in publications including Hidden Channel, A New Ulster, The Galway Review, Impspired Magazine, and Lothlorien Poetry Journal. He has also won prizes in the summer 2020 HITA Creative Writing Competition for his poem ‘Mother’, and won the winter competition for his poem ‘The Silence’. Gordon was awarded a Poetry Town Bursary by Poetry Ireland.

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