Poem of the Week: Mary and Joseph on a Cardboard Bed

Ah, come here ‘til I tell you, I saw them.
Round, young Mary, with Joseph, asleep
outside Liberty Hall on a cardboard bed,
in sleeping bags and hooded winter coats.
Sure, I didn’t know where to be looking.
Scarlet, like I’d walked in on a couple
in their own bedroom. But it was a street,
on the quays, by the Liffey, at rush hour.
Dubliners running to work and school
while the lovers, our homeless lovers,
tried to get the last bit of a morning cuddle.
She had her head down, nuzzled into him.
He had his head out, eyes shut but ready
if needs be, to heave-ho, come on, let’s go.

Rachael Hegarty’s poetry collections include Flight Paths Over Finglas and Dancing with Memory (Salmon Poetry)