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Image by Aachal

VERITY

the madrigal, volume iv

Longing

by r.j. breathnach

I wake, I rise,
my daily chore.
I hear her sweet voice calling.
So cruel, I hate
it is my fate
to leave her side each morning.


So dark, so bright,
the lonely lights,
upon my tongue the taste
of lips so sweet,
placed perfectly
upon the Angel’s face.


Alone at last,
we’re in the crowd.
I hold her in my arms.
Her hair, her eyes,
her gentle mouth.
I’ve fallen for her charms.


We break apart.
She has my heart,
but none of us can stay.
One touch, one kiss,
one light caress,
to steal my soul away.

R.J. Breathnach is a Wexford-born journalist and writer based in Dublin, Ireland. He was chosen by the Irish Writers Centre to be a Young Writer Delegate for the 2021 West Cork Literary Festival, and his work has been published in Púca Magazine, Beir Bua Journal, and The Honest Ulsterman, among others. His debut poetry chapbook, I Grew Tired of Being a Zombie, is available from Alien Buddha Press

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