Description
John Sheahan is one of Ireland’s best known musicians, the last surviving member of legendary band The Dubliners, and musical collaborator with players of all styles and genres.That he is also a poet of considerable accomplishment is something of an open secret; in recent years his poems have been read and performed at countless events where music and the spoken word take to the stage together.
In Fiddle Dreams, his debut collection of poems and lyrics, his subjects range from childhood and family, through art and craft. But his main focus is the music that sustains him and the musicians who have played so significant a part along the way.
Fiddle Dreams is that rare thing — a collection of heart-felt, light-footed verses, and a unique insight into the mind of a musician, for decades now at the heart of Irish cultural life.
“Wise, witty, insightful – these poems will uplift you.” – Joe Duffy
“John possesses as light a touch with the pen as he does with the bow. He writes with a sense of home and worldliness, at once a gypsy spirit and a pure Dubliner.” – Glen Hansard
Sonnet for Luke
A fiery halo crowns your lived-in face.
You shine forth like a beacon from the throng;
Among your fellow peers you set the pace,
And hush the gathered crowd with your song.
Committed to the cause of human rights,
You hold aloft the flame of Amnesty;
When striking workers seek you in their plight,
You rally to their cause unstintingly.
A minstrel boy, you charm your way through life,
Enriching all who chance to pass your way;
You shelter wayward spirits from the night,
And keep them plied with drink till dawn of day.
Though links with us alas too soon are severed,
Your spirit and your song will live forever.
ISBN 9781910251102 PB, 9781910251133 HB
140 x 216 mm
98 pp
September 2015
