shortly after i was born my father
took me to visit his father’s grave
he carried my body to the top of a hill
where his father was buried
this story has become a family legend
there was a time before violence existed
in my family this was not necessarily
during that time at the top of the hill i cried
depending on who you ask i was asleep
at the top of the hill it was a Tuesday
or it was a Wednesday my father was
between jobs he wore a red puffer jacket
i slept for the duration of the train journey
i cried for much of the morning
my father held me high above his father’s grave
no witness to corroborate events
i cried only when my father held me
when he put me in the sky
Joe Carrick-Varty, a British-Irish poet, is the author of More Sky (Carcanet), winner of an Eric Gregory Award. His second collection of poems is forthcoming in 2026.
