There was a sprung ribcage,
And we placed a blue candle
Inside of its maw.
During the summer we had watched it for hours,
Sat on the trunk of a pear tree
Newly garroted
For growing too tall.
At first, we joked about our animal lantern
But in truth we had begun to believe
That if kept well lit
It would shield us from harm.
It had bound us finally as steersmen,
Each dreading
A wind cold enough
To put an end to its light.
PRAISE for Keiran Goddard...
"Keiran Goddard writes with an intensity and commitment matched only by his imagistic facility. The sincerity and lyric ambition of his work place it far from the surface effects and trickery of postmodernism, navigating a terrain darkened by history, literary and otherwise. His is an original new voice that demands our attention."
—Luke Kennard
Keiran Patrick Goddard, was born and raised in Shard End, Birmingham, and educated in Oxford. He has worked as a journalist and editor, and now works in higher education. His poetry has appeared in various journals, most recently, Mercy, the Warwick Review and the Salzburg Review.
