Niamh Prior
The Length of the World
A farewell dinner with a sort of sisterhood
in a pop-up restaurant in O’ Herlihy’s café —
one real sister, one cousin and two old friends
eat artisan tacos, panko crumbed sweet potato
from mismatched charity shop plates, drink
imported white wines and hometown tap water.
Under waxing moon, they hug tightly goodbye.
A funereal pulse tugs at their guts.
Tomorrow she journeys the length of the world
back to her new home, husband and son where
the Coriolis swirls waters and winds the opposite way.
A full moon when she arrives, and though she’ll see
one solitary body in the sky, they each live by oceans.
And a thousand rockpools reflect a thousand moons.
Niamh Prior is from Kinsale in Co. Cork. She studied English with Film and TV Studies at Brunel University London, and later Creative Writing at UCC, where her postgraduate work was funded by the Irish Research Council. Her poetry and short stories have appeared in journals including The North, Southword and The Stinging Fly. Her debut book of fiction, Catchlights, was published by John Murray Originals in June 2022.
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