Patrick O'Reilly Poems

Eve tells you she loves you
And don't worry about the past
But when you're tangled up in the moment
You wonder if it lasts.
...

It is the first new spring since he died.
The larks are singing brightly in the willows.
Why and what for?
...

The new world was built on the backs of many.
Nameless men and women all.
The slaves and slaughters,
The shot and powder
...

I will die young:
I will be life wrapped around steel,
Fiery wreckage on the 401.
...

It’s cold in the morning
Getting to the warehouse.
The grimy steel walls wait in the dark
For the heat of sun and labour.
...

Now I sleep in a basement,
Centered on a fold out bed,
Feeling the drip from the pipes overhead
And the furnace’s fiery yelp in the dark.
...

We were lying on the bed
And you were talking about ghosts
Of America’s girls
Dragged up from the sorrowful past
...

When I go silent, and I grow cold
Will you just look away
And leave me to myself?
...

The sky is dismal and devastating:
Old Jack is dead and he’s gone.
And my hair is out of place.
...

Love of mine
The city’s lights are fading fast
But the buildings are growing right before our eyes
The music is getting louder,
...