Poetry Thursday - Everything is Going to be All Right by Derek Mahon

"The sun rises in spite of everything"

Everything is Going to be All Right - Derek Mahon

How should I not be glad to contemplate
the clouds clearing beyond the dormer window
and a high tide reflected on the ceiling?
There will be dying, there will be dying,
but there is no need to go into that.
The poems flow from the hand unbidden
and the hidden source is the watchful heart.
The sun rises in spite of everything
and the far cities are beautiful and bright.
I lie here in a riot of sunlight
watching the day break and the clouds flying.
Everything is going to be all right.


Derek Mahon (b1941) was born in Ireland and made literary friendships at Trinity College Dublin. After a time at the Sorbonne and working his way through Canada and the US he taught school in Dublin and worked as a freelance journalist in London. He now lives in Co.Cork, Ireland. Since 1965 he has amassed a raft of publications and won several poetry prizes. A biography by Stephen Enniss details the life context of Mahon's poems.

Encountered in the "Reconciliation" episode of BBC Radio 3's excellent "Words and Music" programme (12 days left to listen at time of writing).