I Wish

I wish I’d gone to Iceland
with Auden and MacNeice
to feed my brain on silence
or talk of war and peace.

I wish I’d seen Craiglockhart
under a Scottish moon
and talked about the slaughter
with Owen and Sassoon.

But I was a Belfast student
with Heaney and his clan.
I never got to talk at all
–one had to be a man.

Read next

Trending

John Keiger

Aukus is becoming a potent alliance

John Keiger
Compare and contrast the frenetic, largely unwanted and unnecessary manoeuvres to create a common EU defence union, with the methodical, steadfast construction of Aukus as a formidable Indo-Pacific entente to counter the Chinese threat. Only this week, South Korea signalled its intent to join the alliance and share advanced military technology with the United States,

Latest