Bad Faery

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Felicity in Turin

I first heard this poem on a BBC TV show called The Bookworm. Presented by Gryff Rhys Jones, it ran at tea time on Sunday afternoons on BBC1, from 1995 to 1997. This poem was featured on an edition filmed in Dublin. If memory serves, it was displayed on the electronic display at Dublin’s main train station much to the bemusement of the commuters. It remains a favourite.

Felicity in Turin

We met in the Valentino in Turin
And travelled down through Italy by train,
Sleeping together,
I do not mean having sex.
I mean sleeping together.
Of which sexuality is,
And is not, a part.
It is this sleeping together
That is sacred to me.
This yawning together.
You can have sex with anyone
But with whom can you sleep?

I hate you
Because having slept with me
You left me.

By Paul Durcan
From A Snail in My Prime: New and Selected Poems

In other news…

Today I ordered the set texts for A210, Approaching Literature. A bit pre-emptive, yes, or even very pre-emptive given that I’m not doing the course for another year (!) but I would like to get a start on reading them before I start U211 in February. I’ll be nothing if not prepared!

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