In the hot air of the studio
that quick bright face
looks for the moment
to enter their laughter.
Notice her hands,
the restless impatience
of two birds caught
in a familiar net
till her song cuts through.
Then hear the silence,
O, the long quiet of it,
Am I right ladies?
Maura Dooley’s most recent collection of poetry is Five Fifty-Five (Bloodaxe, 2023). With Elhum Shakerifar she published translations of verse by the Iranian poet Azita Ghahreman, Negative of a Group Photograph (Bloodaxe/PTC, 2018) which received a PEN award and was shortlisted for the Warwick Women in Translation Prize.
that quick bright face
looks for the moment
to enter their laughter.
Notice her hands,
the restless impatience
of two birds caught
in a familiar net
till her song cuts through.
Then hear the silence,
O, the long quiet of it,
Am I right ladies?
Maura Dooley’s most recent collection of poetry is Five Fifty-Five (Bloodaxe, 2023). With Elhum Shakerifar she published translations of verse by the Iranian poet Azita Ghahreman, Negative of a Group Photograph (Bloodaxe/PTC, 2018) which received a PEN award and was shortlisted for the Warwick Women in Translation Prize.
