Humanity

By Patrick O’Donnell

Many of the difficulties we face in life are within ourselves. It is the constant war within that exhausts so many people. If we are to make our way to higher ground, we must come to terms with the many weaknesses of the human condition. Arrogance, that sense of superiority, greed, and envy are just a few. We must reach out beyond these things to the soul of the being if we are to have any hope of finding who we are. If we make contact, we will find a spiritual space where we can thrive, where we can expand our horizons, come to terms with, except that we are just one part of nature journeying through the greater scheme of things. To accept is to be at one. It is not easy, in many ways, we are groping in the dark, not sure what we want, not sure that we want to find it. This is where humanity is stationed. For what it is worth, I believe we are part of something greater. Something beyond our human comprehension. That is what this collection of poetry is about. Reaching out to that something; that something other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Jul 21, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398493124

Patrick O’Donnell

Patrick O’Donnell was born in County Donegal in 1957. He lived in England for some time, now he lives in Kilkenny. This is his first collection of poetry.

Book preview

About the Author

Patrick O’Donnell was born in County Donegal in 1957. He lived in England for some time, now he lives in Kilkenny. This is his first collection of poetry.

Dedication

For my family

Copyright Information ©

Patrick O’Donnell 2023

The right of Patrick O’Donnell to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

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A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398493117 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398493124 (ePub e-book)

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First Published 2023

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On the Edge of Existence

Long dark nights with the

familiar wind and rain

in hovels tucked into the sides of mountains

on the edge of existence.

The solace of pray

and the fear of hell,

the worry of having to make the rent,

the people in the big house

had to have their comforts.

The lofty thoughts of the great

philosophers never reached them,

their debates in the marble halls

filtering out to the chosen few.

Cautioned by their superstitions

and held in a vice-like grip

by society’s demented sense of reality,

never quite sure of that place called heaven.

Peg Woffington

From the poverty of childhood,

to treading the boards

of the great theatres of

Dublin and London.

Beauty, grace, and talent,

night after night, year after year,

waves of admiration flowing

to the feet of your shore.

The envy of women;

the desire of men.

That love you had for him,

unconditional surrender of the heart,

how his change of mind

must have pierced like cold steel.

His fear of being in your shadow,

greater than his love.

No Start to It

There was no start to it,

we found ourselves there

amongst the madness

trying to stay alive.

kill or be killed,

fears and imagined fears

rooted in the consciousness

passed down the line

a never-ending harvest of plenty

embedded in our DNA.

The need to make sense of it,

to reason why?

Finding comfort in belief.

Still, here we are,

some of us hollowed-out,

memories rattling around.

Gates

The lintel flattens the light

as it enters,

the walls square it.

The hovels of the despised

downtrodden feral hordes,

the smell of their hunger

and despair still lingers.

These places never leave us

we carry them with us like the

flesh on our bones.

The nothing of their station,

and the fear of that after life

location keeping them in drudgery.

So many gates to pass