Be De Hokey! (For Lyn) Poem by Dónall Dempsey

Tilted back chair
tilted back hat

always spoke
as if the world were tickling him

& he couldn't but
...laugh!

Amazed & amused
(tongue set firmly in cheek)

'Be de hokey...! '
he'd chuckle.

'Be de hokey...! '
he would repeat to himself.

Break off
a branch

...tenderly

the tree giving herself
to him

...gently

whistle & whittle
a man or some

imaginary beast

for my hands to play with

...lovingly.

Tell me
(secretly)

that both man & the menagerie
of imaginary beasts

were hiding in the tree
(already made)

waiting for you to
whistle & whittle them out.

'Be de hokey...! '
I whispered entranced.

The rhododendrons
were blue with amazement

at this revelation

socks & shirts
grew on gooseberry bushes

dragonflies danced
upon the summer air.

Often I would revisit
this one moment

as if it were
the only moment

...ever.

Death...so far away
it couldn't even be imagined

as I climb up on your lap
and take your hat

sticking my tongue
firmly in my cheek

become you
as you are... your very self.

Your laughter
lost amongst fields and trees.

'Be de hokey...'
even Death smiles at us

as you live on
in me