A Poem to Welcome July

Inniskeen Road: July Evening. Patrick Kavanagh

Inniskeen Road: July Evening

(Notes to the reader: Inniskeen is in rural Ireland. Alexander Selkirk is the castaway from Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe.)

Photo by Joachim Riegel on Unsplash

The bicycles go by in twos and threes -
There's a dance in Billy Brennan's barn to-night,
And there's the half-talk code of mysteries
And the wink-and-elbow language of delight.
Half-past eight and there is not a spot
Upon a mile of road, no shadow thrown
That might turn out a man or woman, not
A footfall tapping secrecies of stone.
I have what every poet hates in spite
Of all the solemn talk of contemplation.
Oh, Alexander Selkirk knew the plight
Of being king and government and nation.
A road, a mile of kingdom, I am king
Of banks and stones and every blooming thing.