A poem by a Donegal writer has been catching the eye of drowsy commuters on Dublin’s DART transport system.
Denise Blake’s work ‘And They All Lived Happily’, a poem looking at the little white lies parents sometimes have to tell their children, has been placed on display as part of a project by Poetry Ireland.
Ahead of national Poetry Day which takes place this year on May 2, Poetry Ireland contacted publishers to ask them to submit their favourite works based on the theme of ‘Truth or Dare’.
Revival Press, which has published Denise’s most recent collection, Invocation, put forward And They All Lived Happily.
It has been chosen as one of seven pieces for public display under the ‘truth’ element of the double-barrelled theme, alongside works by legendary names such as Emily Dickinson and Brendan Kennelly.
And They All Lived Happily is currently giving commuters on the DART line between Malahide and Dublin some food for thought, much to the delight of its author.
Explaining how it all came about, Denise said, “Every year Poetry Ireland have a theme for Poetry Day and this year it is Truth or Dare. So they contacted publishers and asked them to submit poems they felt fitted into the category.
“This time last year I published my third book, Invocation, which has And They All Lived Happily in it.
“The poem itself is about the lies you tell your children, things like the dog really did go to live on a farm or that the tooth fairy was on holidays when really you forgot to leave money under the pillow, that sort of thing.
“A poet called Elaine Feeney picked it as part of the Poetry Day theme which was just extraordinary and I am so pleased.”
Denise Blake is the daughter of Eileen McGlinchey and niece of the late prominent politician Bernard McGlinchey. While born in America, she has lived most of her lived in Letterkenny and now resides in Ramelton.
Unusually, she only started writing in her early thirties before going on to complete a Masters in Creative Writing through the Poet’s House, Falcarragh, in conjunction with Lancaster University.
She said she found the fact that one her pieces is being read by hundreds, possibly even thousands, of people travelling in and out of Dublin each day “emotional”.
Denise’s poem ‘And They All Lived Happily’ which will be displayed on Dublin’s DART until next month.
“I didn’t know which DART line it was on until one of my son’s friends sent a message to say he had seen it.
“I found it quite emotional because if they had asked me which poem I wanted displayed, I wouldn’t have chosen this one. But it is about the things you do with your children and that seems to be resonating with people.
“My own son, Damien, he is a parent now himself and his friends are sharing the poem so there is sort of circular thing going on which I find a bit emotional.
“It is unreal and I never imagined for one second that when I started writing poetry that something like this would happen. I’m chuffed, I really am, and it’s nice to think that someone on their way to work in the morning might look up from their phone from a moment and read something I have written,” added Denise.
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