Seán Walsh: Gone Daughter
Gone Daughter
I climb the stairway to the attic –
grim day, dim lit night –
into an empty room full of
Might Have Been…
‘Cross to the slanted ceiling,
lever open the window,
look out across slated roofs,
dull bricked chimneys,
towards Dublin Bay,
the Migrant Way…
When she took off I gave her a month –
month at the most…
She’ll be back, I’ll take bets on it!
Down at the mouth, sure,
but glad to be home for all that –
safe, secure, sheltered…
Oh, yes. London’ll cure her cough!..
Oh, Jenny, Jenny!..
What are you at, a tall a tall, daughter mine?..
I didn’t give you a hope – how could I?..
Sure I knew the time would come
when you’d want to fly the nest. Sure I did.
But I wanted so much you to have
something going for you –
so you wouldn’t be going to nothing…
Learning the hard way…
Skimping on this, going without that,
maybe borrowing, on pay day,
your fare to work.
Answering one small ad after another after an –
hoping against hope for an interview:
a chance to talk, bluff, lie your way
unto the first rung of an endless ladder
getting – nowhere…
But the weeks passed. And the seasons.
She hung in there, held out, roughing it.
No way would she give in.
Pride?.. But of course.
And a strong resolve
to stand and give challenge.
But kept in touch – the occasional letter,
the seldom phone call.
‘Came the day I booked a flight,
packed an overnight, made a phone call,
boarded for Heathrow,
fast track to London Central…
I wanted to see my daughter, that’s the why!
Seán Walsh
A teaser from Jenny One Two Three,
Amazon.com ebook and paperback.
“The love of a father for his daughter,
her love for her Dad…”
‘”Just finished Jenny One Two Three and am, to use your own word, gobsmacked. It’s a tour de force, deeply personal… there is poetry in the writing and the interweaving of different stories, letters, photographs make it a compelling piece for the reader… A unique piece to say the least, full of heartbreak and triumph… You have achieved a cleansing of sorts, which is, when all is said and done, the reason why we write… Take a bow and thank you for sharing with me, Sean.”
– John Liddy. Poet. Madrid.
“Once started I could not stop… It is an amazing piece of work that defies classification. It is so many things in so many wonderful ways, in so many creative forms, with so many challenging time-shifts, emotional-shifts, narrative shifts – all explored, developed and drawn together in a sweep of literary magic.
The writing is at times poetic, ever beautiful and sensitive; at other times brilliantly dramatic in its sweep of dialogue… It is, at heart, a warm delicate piece – and your pride in the Jennys, and their love for you, is never ever far away from us, the listeners and the watchers.
Lovely work, Sean. It will live on, in other times, in other hands. It will be housed, loved and treasured, way beyond its literary brilliance and its deserved literary applause.”
– Bernard Farrell, playwright.
“It is certainly the most absorbing reflection by a father on his relationship with his daughters that I have ever read.
I was deeply impressed by the qualities of truth and love which shine through it from beginning to end.
All of the human heart seems to be there.
Your way of expressing all that rich experience is as striking as ever – direct, immediate, finely honed, beautifully crafted.”
– Martin Hogan.