Update

Dennis O’Driscoll

The manuscript for this last book of poems by Dennis O’Driscoll (1954–2012) was discovered on his computer. In keeping with his previous work, Update weaves memoir into crisp observations on modern life and casts a wry gaze at contemporary Ireland. Readers will discover here a bracing assessment of bureaucracy, consumerism, and environmental calamity, contrasting with the intimacy of memory and intellect. O’Driscoll captures the fragility of life—human and otherwise—and grants a shimmering, bittersweet glimpse of mortality and the vivid pursuits that come before it.

Paperback: $16.00 list price

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ISBN: 9781556594847

Format: Paperback

Then

Hard though I know
you find this to believe,
I was actually alive once.
Alive. And well enough,
at least, to play my part.

I too faced heartaches, disappointments,
embarrassments and vanities
not all that unlike yours, kept up
with the pressing issues of the day,
registered weather’s moodiness

on my skin, brooded on the big
life-and-death questions when
I indulged my more reflective traits.
And if it’s any consolation,
it feels no less strange to me now

to conceive that I was truly
such a creature once,
and had some small say in how
the world–as it stood at that
time–conducted its affairs.

That my birth would not make
a blind bit of difference,
in the final analysis, does not
negate my life, and counts
for precious little against

the surges of unbounded joy
I felt, on better days, imagining
my highest hopes were still fulfillable.
There was everything to live for then.
It was all before me.

About the Author

Dennis O’Driscoll was born in Thurles, North Tipperary, Ireland, in 1954. He published nine books of poetry, a collection of essays, and the anthology Quote Poet Unquote: Contemporary Quotations on Poets and Poetry (Copper Canyon Press, 2008). His first book of poetry to appear in the United States was Reality Check (Copper Canyon Press, 2008). O’Driscoll received many honors for his work, including a Lannan Literary Award in 1999, the 2005 E.M. Forster Award, and the 2006 O’Shaughnessy Award for …

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