Critical Mick

Critical Mick is your guide to adventures between the covers. Though this site's primary focus is on Irish crime, it is not immune to its own "free of rules" philosophy. Since starting criticalmick.com, I have read my first romance novel. I have returned to the classics like Dracula. And now... poetry? (Hopefully this poetry review will make more sense than the romance or Dracula unruly reviews, which were so damn hard to follow that they just pissed people off.)

If you think you can tell your ass from your elbow, click here. If you think you can tell poetry from pulp fiction, click here.

Tallaght, a south-western suburb of Dublin, is the size of the city of Limerick. Limerick is known for those stupid rhymes, but Tallaght- until now- has carried no flourish of lyrical fame. Teacher, author and editor extraordinaire Eileen Casey set out to change all that with her new collection of sixteen poems, Seagulls.

Casey, who lists the ass next door as one of her earliest source for inspiration, begins her poetry collection with an image that will make crime fic fools feel right at home. "I imagine them lined up like carcasses, row upon row..."

This poem, "On the Burning..." remains equally accessible throughout. It describes a real fire, after all, and not some airy-fairy load of wank about butterflies or forlorn schoolboys. Casey lays out imagery both colorful enough and true to hold interest, and closes with a point. Maybe it's residue from my recent trip to the Opera, but the poem gave me a whole new impression of ballet costumes.

"Them" is a poem that describes the new multicultural Ireland of today. There is truth to its imagery, though its moral about racists being ignorant plonkers felt a bit obvious.

An African man also makes an appearance in the collection's title track, "Seagulls." Gulls wheel up and around, down and in and all around Tallaght for 29 authentic lines. They wheel and stretch over the shopping center, the park, the rows of houses with their house alarms always going off. They skim across asphalt, hills, clouds, trash, thugs in hoodies and women pushing toddlers in prams. The poem visits the many sights and sites of contemporary suburban Dublin, and concludes:

Production quality is high throughout this handy chapbook. (That is, "Book suitable for chaps." Eileen Casey has not burdened the world with a load of girly-curly flowery stuff. Send €10 to Fiery Arrow Press, 16 Watermeadow Park, Old Bawn, Tallaght, Dublin 24 and see for yourself!)

Apologies to Eileen Casey for take 2 years to complete this review!

Critical Mick says: When it comes to poetry, I can't tell my ass from my elbow. But Eileen Casey's Seagulls contains tattoos rather than tat. It is OK by me.

Read Critical Mick's interview with Eileen Casey!

Yo! This review and all content on the DFA Guide site are copyright 2006 Mick Halpin. All links to other sites and documents are copyright to whatever source wrote something cool enough for Mick to give it a referral. Try to claim them as your own work and bad karma will catch up with you, baby. Believe it.

Irate, huh? Managed to piss off another one? Direct your hatemail to mick @ mickhalpin dot com.

This Page Was Last Updated On 18 June, 2006.