Smithereens Press Chapbooks SP14 - The Lighthouses by Daragh Breen | Page 17

Tarbert Island; 1834, 18 metres, white light 2 seconds on, 2 seconds
off, red light West over Bowline Rock
Fort Point; 1841, 16 metres, white flash every 2 seconds, red flashes to
South East

A murder of currachs
like up-turned crows’ beaks
crowd towards the rocks,
their tarred ribs shining
shell-like and black in the rain,
the waves heave
their meagre fish-catches onto salty shoulders,
testing the strength of the long legs
of their thin oars.

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