We publish below a new poem by Michael Lee Rattigan, whose poetry collection Hiraeth was published in 2016 by Black Herald Press (alongside its French translation).
Mindsight
A sound as of windchimes, separation
on the grass in the all-made light
soaking every grass-blade and leaf,
a field’s mile-upon-mile renewal.
Bells unlike bells, light unlike light
seeing for the first time
the only known by touch, sensation
unencumbered by meaning.
One’s whole life outside and inside
as a cloud casts shadow,
different brightnesses
the falling ends of a sash.
Shades lacking a language
– exact.
Where one thing can’t be mistaken for another,
perception clearer than sight.
Song of different tongues
a picture without vision, an impression
the moment the heart stops
appearing out of the fog like sunlight.
More than a paroptic immediate,
eyes in every surrounding particle
the mind itself sees
down to specks of dust.
© Michael Lee Rattigan, 2020.