John Hughes

John Hughes lives in Downpatrick, County Down. His first collection of poetry, The Something in Particular, was published in 1986 by Gallery Press in Dublin.

All the misfortunes of man, all the baleful reverses with which histories are filled … all of this is the result of not knowing how to dance.

Molière, Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme

We listen to the late weather-bulletin. The forecast is for severe storms, resulting in spires and chimneys being blown down on top of those citizens who venture out of doors to post letters to...

Poem: ‘Alchemy: A Tale’

John Hughes, 13 October 1988

A certain man flew from Chicago to his native Golden Vale To resurrect a recurring dream from his childhood. The dream: A Frenchman called Lavoisier Being cooked in a bath till he revealed The whereabouts of the long-lost philosopher’s stone – The stone which is not a stone.

But his dream brought him to the attention Of the Angel of Fire Mountain, Who took him to the city of...

Poem: ‘The Bog Road’

John Hughes, 9 April 1992

Driving through the September rain the taxi driver didn’t say a word until a goat ran across the road.

He came to a sudden stop, banged his fist on the windscreen, and intimated we were close to the spot where, sometime in the 1700s, a Fitzgerald had tied his father to a bear.

Then we watched a forest march from east to west.

We stayed there until it was time for him to talk to me...

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