Irish Author - Gerard Beirne

Vision of a Foreign Land

I
The women of Smyrna swallowing drams of Mediterranean mercury
to plumpen up their charms/legendary beauties desired for Turkish 
                    harems/

the flying carpet Oriental romance of Spice Island false pregnancies/
children made orphans by bloody massacre returning in vain to the fruits

and the flowers of the Sultan's invitation/their wounds still bleeding,
the wild beast's paw upon them/their own blood moistening the orchids             

Poetry here from Irish author Gerard Beirne who attacks the notional divide between science and art head on and makes rhymes out of sines and cosines and the nature of colloidal suspensions. In ancient times Pythagoras theorized upon the nature of music and mathematics without making a distinction between the two. It is only in our day (and mostly in the popular imagination) that science, mathematics and art have drifted into a strange opposition. Perhaps it is only an ill-educated assumption that science is not beautiful. In any case, Gerard Beirne, in his new book Games of Chance: A Gambler’s Manual (Oberon Press) from which these poems are taken, makes poetry out of science and science out of poetry.

Vision of the Dead Land

Here in the dead land, the claw land, the taxis of Saigon, the bicycles and traffic, a birthday cake with paper palm trees and cardboard huts, little plastic helicopters and soldiers, plastic boats and flags. Tomatoes, spaghetti, garlic, olive oil, a mop, a frying
pan, kitchen towels, and trash-bags. Shrunken heads and penises, severed hands, corpses pierced with shrapnel.

The board welcomed two new directors at its annual general meeting: Ben McFarlane, Florenceville-Bristol and Marie Cadieux, Moncton. Returning to the board are directors: Gerry Beirne, Fredericton; Kelly Cooper, Belleisle Creek; Carmel Vivier, Quispamsis; Andy Flanagan, Belledune; Valerie Sherrard, Miramichi; and Deborah Carr, Hillsborough.

Have you ever been caught in a loop?...

like, say, Cormac McCarthy, Beirne is rigorously dedicated to this style. He never backs off or makes it easier for a reader. In time the rhythm gets under your skin - in a good way, as Irvine Welsh's style does for those who appreciate it - and in this way becomes linked to the joy you'll derive from this book.