Flowers Mark the Spot

Flowers mark the spot Of the stolen cars somersault. Flowers mark the spot Of another unprovoked assault. Supermarket bouquets, Barely noticed, wrapped in plastic, Held aloft by sellotape Where a girl sought her x, Where lovers found a body Whose hands were neatly tied, Where a driver lost control, Where someones daughter died. Bouquets that disintegrate During months devoid of sleep, When numb parents ache To hear again a key turn in a lock As loved ones arrive home Having dodged the roulette of fate. Withered owers represent A grief they can never articulate. - Dermot Bolger

The Clondalkin Suite, a sequence of poems by Dermot Bolger, from part of his work in progress entitled County Lives. Commissioned by South Dublin County Council through In Context 3 and funded under the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Governments Per Cent for Art Scheme, The Clondalkin Suite is being displayed across Clondalkin. Their texts can be downloaded at http://incontext.southdublin.ie/ where comments may also be left for the author. Between the January 1st and March 30th 2008, people who live or work in South Dublin County are invited to submit to the author, via this website, up to three original poems that reect some aspect of their lives within the county. In September 2008, the full text of County Lives will be published, consisting of Dermot Bolgers original sequence interlinked with a representative cross section of submitted poems by other authors. Designed and produced by Yellowstone Communications Design 670 4200.