Poems by Anne Casey ​

howling at the moon
 
apparition in the spitting hail
silent witness
following across hemispheres
over decades
hovering above ghosts of futures past
ashen
as a knuckle gnawed raw
 
 
 
 
 
None shall sleep
 
I see the emptied cup
of a phantom moon
upturned in the mid blue
of a sunny late autumn
afternoon and I seek you there
 
I never did believe in our half-awake
half-asleep, that used up husk--
they burnt to the dulcet notes
of your beloved Nessun Dorma--
could have still contained you
 
Cold as ice pelting the panes
in stabbing sheets, chilling shrieks, riddle me this
the banshee queen could not name you, claim you
twisting the blade, took my head instead--
it was all that I could do to sustain you
 
Hearing the lilt of our own Westering Home
in between the keening bleeding through the cracks
I felt you rise over the ravening tide
leap across the void, lean into the wind
that gathered you up to carry you victorious
 
Your glorious emergence to where
your missing were waiting beyond my
howling your name drowning
in the blankets of your shed pain
to where I will follow when
 
My cup is fully emptied
and we will sleep no more
 
Notes:

1. This poem derives its title from Nessun Dorma, an aria from the final act of Puccini’s opera Turandot, which features a murderous princess.
2. A banshee is a malevolent female spirit in Irish folklore, said to herald the death of a family member by shrieking or wailing.
3. Westering Home is a Scottish homecoming song written by Hugh S. Roberton in the 1920s and possibly derived from the Irish song Trasna na dTonnta meaning “Across the Waves”.

 
 

​Originally from the west of Ireland, Anne Casey is a Sydney-based poet/writer. She is author of where the lost things go (Salmon Poetry 2017, 2nd ed 2018) and out of emptied cups (Salmon Poetry forthcoming July 2019). Her writing and poetry rank in The Irish Times newspaper's Most-Read and are widely published internationally.
 
Anne has won or shortlisted for poetry awards in Ireland, the USA, the UK, Canada and Australia – including the Women’s National Book Association Poetry Competition (USA); Overton Poetry Prize (UK); Hennessy New Irish Writing and Cúirt International Poetry Prize (Ireland); and Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland Literary Competition.
 
Over a 25-year career, Anne has worked as a business journalist, magazine editor, media communications director and legal author. She holds a law degree from University College Dublin and qualifications in media communications. Anne is Senior Poetry Editor of Other Terrain Journal and Backstory Journal (Swinburne University, Melbourne).

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