8 October 1904
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She didn’t travel west
123456to bend her head beneath a cottage lintel.
She didn’t carry lilies to the dead
123456or bid her mother farewell.
She didn’t pack a wedding dress of silk brocade,
123456no satin nightgown trimmed with lace.
She didn’t linger in her attic bedroom,
123456wistful for laughter with friends,
but sauntered up the gangway
123456in wide-brimmed hat and borrowed coat,
saw Jim ahead on the deck,
123456jagged chin, blue-eyed, smiling.
She whispered to herself,
123456I’ll take my chances with him.
© Jane Clarke, commissioned by the James Joyce Centre for Bloomsday 2020
Picture 10407665, photograph by John Gay, 1950, image copyright Mary Evans / Historic England
Jane Clarke is the acclaimed author of two poetry collections, The River and When the Tree Falls (Bloodaxe Books 2015 & 2019), and an illustrated chapbook, All the Way Home (Smith|Doorstop 2019). She grew up on a farm in Co. Roscommon and now lives with her wife in Glenmalure, Co. Wicklow. Her work explores enduring connections to people, place and nature. Jane’s awards include the 2016 Hennessy Literary Award for Poetry and the 2016 Listowel Writers’ Week Poem of the Year. She is working on her third collection and combines writing with teaching and mentoring creative writing. www.janeclarkepoetry.ie