Winning with poets.org and the Poetry Project

Congratulations to: Lisa J. Sullivan

With: ‘To the Bog of Allen’
Written in response to: Into the Mire by Nigel Rolfe

To the Bog of Allen

You are lonely because
you claim the lonely–
ancient dolmens,
abandoned trackways,
restless folk who fail
to check your depth
before they step.

But I saw that man
who stood on the edge
of your edge
and fell like a domino
into what he thought
was a part of himself.

Your typical lure–
he mistook a water ripple
for a weary mouth
pleading, “Help.”

You have always lain
between two sides
of a thing:
The Liffey–The Shannon.
They feed you
even when you aren’t hungry.

Did you let him rise
because you had no appetite?
Or have you learned to tell
the difference between
those who come to give
and those who come to take?

Dazed with your poison,
I thought he may give in,
but you let him crawl away.

Tell me–has your acidic palate
grown to dislike the taste
of the will of man?