Breda Joyce’s poetry has won and been shortlisted for awards and appears in various anthologies and literary journals. Her poem Funeral Shoes was selected as poem of the week in The Irish Times in March 22. Her first poetry collection ‘Reshaping the Light’ was published by Chaffinch Press in 2021. Breda also writes short fiction and memoir and her work has appeared on Sunday Miscellany and on TG 4. Apart from writing Breda enjoys sea-swimming, cycling and hiking in the hills near her home and trying to improve her Irish. Originally from Galway she now lives near Cahir, County Tipperary.

Imprints

I found them the other day,
our four handprints covered in moss.
I recall how we rushed to make an impression
before the concrete set,

laid down our palms in order of size –
that was when both your small hands A
fitted snugly into mine.

Like swallows that make their way back
to where their parents nested,
will you find again these imprints
and rest your hands against mine?

Otters

A mother and her young wet the darkness
of a winter afternoon.
Sleek and black beside the murky river,
perfect monochrome
in the encroaching gloom.

The mother’s paws upturned
to the waning moon
as if to clasp a rope of light
to anchor her raft between
roots and reeds.

Then out of nowhere, a high-pitched squeal;
her youngest pup, his little paw ensnared,
her sharp teeth desperate to unpick
a trap set expertly
against the dark.