The Tall Lighthouse
Poets: Abdul Jamal |  Abi Curtis |  Adam O'Riordan | Andy Brown |  Aoife Mannix  |  Baden Prince |  Brendan Cleary  |  Camellia Stafford |  Cathy Ryan |  Ebele  |  Gareth Jones |  Graham Buchan |  Heather Taylor |  Helen Mort | James Bell  |  Janice Fixter |  Jay Bernard |  John Clarke | John McCullough | Keith Please |  Ken Champion |  Kim Lasky |  Lisa Dart  |  Maggie Sullivan |  Marc Swan | Miriam Gamble | Nii Parkes |  Pierre Ringwald | Retta Bowen |  Rhian Edwards |Ronnie McGrath |  Wendy French

Aoife Mannix

Aoife's poetry is widely published in anthologies and magazines and has been broadcast on BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 4, London Live, Resonance FM and the BBC World Service. In 2003 she recorded a spoken word CD Did You Forget To Take Your Tablets? with musician Richard Lewis

publications:
the elephant in the corner
the trick of foreign words

growing up an alien


Lyrical and admirably free of clutter, Aoife's poems make a direct appeal to the emotions. This is a poet with a fresh, clear voice.
                                                                                                                Maurice Riordan

 

Prologue from growing up an alien

        

The smell of a tangerine peeled

in the depths of a forest covered in snow, 

the purity of that orange freshness

when you strip away the layers of skin. 

Underneath all the unnecessary noise,

there is a silence so magic it wraps me        

in a soft cocoon of whiteness.  

A snowflake melting on my tongue. 

This moment when I rest

under the heaviness of the trees,

stare out at the mountains

scraping against a sky so blue it hurts. 

The air itself is crystal truth. 

I sit in the quiet of this alien landscape, 

a small space explorer, a snow

cosmonaut landed from Mars. 

And all around me there is nothing but wonder.

 

Aoife is currently touring with her new show Growing Up An Alien -

Brewery Arts, Kendal

1 December - 7pm

tickets £7 & £6 (£5 fob & students)

tel: 07539 725133

www.breweryarts.co.uk