Amy Abdullah Barry is published widely, including Cyphers, Southword, Paris Lit Up, Sunday Tribune, Live Encounters, Galway Review, A New Ulster and elsewhere. Featured in Breaking Ground Ireland. Her poems have been translated into many languages. Chosen for the Poetry Ireland Introduction Series 2022. A travel lover, she previously worked in the media, hotel and energy industry. Amy has been awarded literature bursaries from the Arts Council and Words Ireland. She is a professional member of The Irish Writers Centre and, an Honorary member of the Pablo Neruda Association, Italy. Amy is the founder of Global Writers. She regularly organises poetry & music events in her hometown, Athlone. She has performed her work in Ireland and internationally.
‘Flirting with Tigers’ is her debut collection of poems published by Dedalus Press in April 2023.

A Mouthful of Stones

I never thought I would see dessert that way.
To me, crumble was merely crumble —
a great huddle of apple and cinnamon,
biscuit cascading to the swirl of my spoon.

Newshour:

Gaza fixed into an eerie moonscape —
Smoke rises from piles of debris,
bricks and concrete dust,
where homes used to be,

dusty people shouting for help,
blood like irrevocable stains on their skin.
The camera closes in on an old lady
frail as an autumn leaf.

She cries, “I’m alive! Alhamdullilah.
I couldn’t breathe.
My mouth was full of stones.
Everything is gone…”

I look up from my dish
and see our pristine festive plates,
our shiny photos and all the spoils
of a life lived at relative ease.

The last spoonful succumbs to my gentle nudging.
The old lady’s home is crumbling
just like my favourite dessert —
which I might never enjoy again.

*As seen on Al-Jazeera Newshour on 7th October. The Israeli bombing of Gaza—with thousands dead, hospitals at the brink of collapse, infrastructure crumbling—intensified.