Spirit Eyes

In ‘Mount Cargill’ a poem in Maurice Whelan’s book Excalibur’s Return he described running up Mount Cargill in New Zealand with Richard O’Neill-Dean to whom that volume was dedicated. Richard responded to Maurice’s latest collection Spirit Eyes with a poem of his own after discussing how Maurice sets about crafting a poem and the importance he attaches to a central thought or idea upon which the poem is constructed.

Shipwright

for Maurice Whelan poet

He might look out the odd plank

let it season slowly

covered from the rain

so that frames ribs stringers

in the imagination slowly form

the particular twist or warp or grain

of a thought

favouring the idea of a hull

sensitive to wind and wave

to keep out storms

to manage strains.

But beyond all the keelson

massive strong

it must permit of no bend

take long keel-bolts

going down through heartwood

to fasten the lead weight

of a real thought

many tons

to keep a good poem upright

and carrying on

tied in tight to bind

all between the sweet lines

of its stem and stern

to make a fine entry

to set its wake

upon the oceans

of the mind