for Dennis O’Driscoll

I have seen the Ukraine, across a river,
but not been there, not yet.
I have crossed a bridge, on foot,
into Poland, spent fifteen minutes.
My passport says I’m still there.
I have criss-crossed the border
at Geneva, leaving me dizzy.
I was held for half an hour
at the East German Zoll, arguing
that I was the passport photo.
I’ve sat in the train for hours
in the no-man’s-land that links
Romania and Hungary. I’ve come
within ten kilometres of Bulgaria.
I have stood at the customs in Basel
with a scribbled sign for Dublin.
I’ve walked round Berwick in the fog
hearing Scottish accents in English mouths.
I decided I needed to be born
as my mother approached the Irish border.

MATTHEW SWEENEY’s most recent collection is Sanctuary (Cape 2004). His Selected Poems appeared in 2002 and a new collection, Black Moon, will be published next August.

© Copyright of this poem remains with the poet: please do not download or republish without permission.

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