Archaeology of the Heart

By Kieran Beville

Like traditional, honeyed Irish soda bread or dark chocolate truffles suffused with plenty of good Irish whiskey, this charismatic book of poetry you hold in your hands, by Kieran Beville, an esteemed Irish poet, and the reading of the poems inside, is a satisfyingly nourishing, sensual experience to savour, over and over again. Its attention to craft, passion for language, and with a profound understanding of the depths of the roots of memory, is an astounding work of poetry.
— From An Appreciation by Elizabeth English

• Language: English
• Publisher: Limerick Writers Centre
• Release date: Apr 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215988503

Kieran Beville

Kieran Beville is author of Write Now – A Practical Guide to Becoming a Writer (Limerick Writers' Centre, 2019). He has had a substantial number of poems and articles published in various newspapers, journals and magazines and four collections of poetry (Revival Press). His book, Pulling Back the Clouds is a short biography of Mike Kelly, collector of the die-cast model aircraft display at Shannon Airport (LWC, 2020). In 2022 Beville was appointed Ollamh (Poet Laureate) for Limerick.

Book preview

A single poem is its own reward, and can be a kind of solace, a joy, shimmering in one’s memory long afterwards. There is something in us always wants to cling to that faint sliver of times past. Poems like the very ones in Archaeology of the Heart can be words as on a map of one’s life, brightly lit like a jewel-toned jukebox, rising up with a familiar music, and filling one with a longing for love, and for the lost and the found, in which the searing ache of a long-lost love can be discovered in the ardent poem entitled, Separate Rooms – Wielded to wound / Listening to the intercourse of wind / And waves. / Tonight it’s separate rooms.

Like traditional, honeyed Irish soda bread or dark chocolate truffles suffused with plenty of good Irish whiskey, this charismatic book of poetry you hold in your hands, by Kieran Beville, an esteemed Irish poet, and the reading of the poems inside, is a satisfyingly nourishing, sensual experience to savour, over and over again. As in the poem entitled The Blue Bike, a tender, heart-warming, tale, where Such joyful presence / Cannot be turned away. Its attention to craft, passion for language, and with a profound understanding of the depths of the roots of memory, is an astounding work of poetry for the ages.

For those who wish to settle in for a delightful time, you will love everything you discover here, and as you peruse Archaeology of the Heart, you will either come to love poetry more, or you will discover it for the very first time. One of the great beauties of poetry you will find here is that it encompasses the full gamut of the true nature of the world around us, in luminous language and in a distinctive, unforgettable voice. They are told with an assured, confident mastery, and showcase the width and breadth of Beville’s talent, and his unique way of touching your heart with his words. Each of the memorable poems in this book is a kind of buried treasure!

Here, you will find a gentle, much-loved memory of the poet’s aged mother in Golden Threads, where The patina of her ageing hands / Hovering like a pair of doves. / The beauty of her needlework / With golden threads of love. And seek out these four stories, in an utterly distinctive poetry form: Different Eyes, Shadows, Granddad, and Falling In Love each of which is a joyous voyage into the very heart of the poet himself, and discover the depth of a perfect love, or a magnificent farewell. You will surely find your own personal favourites here! These poems, full of a delicate resonance with motifs of vibrant colour, passion and humour, express a life well-lived, adroitly