Anna Connors

Swing Set

Below my bedroom window stands the skeleton of a father,
Strong enough to carry the children on his broad shoulders
Where my sister and I would spend our summers sipping bottles of bubbles,
Letting our laughter rise and fizzle and pop until it spilled over
Lifting us higher - higher - higher -
I am with the birds now, being carried by the wind
Weightless, as if my limbs were now of wax and feather,
I soar with the belief I could cup the clouds in my hands
But before I burn I am brought back down,
For he was always more diligent than Daedalus.

Shielding me from the elements, you were worn down,
Year after year stripping you to the bone,
But all I could do was watch as you heaved and sighed
Until you could hold me to the sun no longer.
The earth reclaimed you, rooting rust at your core,
I wept at your feet, never again to leave the ground.


Anna Connors is a student from County Longford with a love of poetry and reading. She has previously been published in the Leitrim Guardian.