---

              Sure though thy feet, proud Sparta, have a care,

              A lame king's reign may see thee trip – Beware!
 

Hammering like horses hooves 

on corrugated roofs

The Russians are losing

Petrol pumps like roulette wheels

One armed bandits

Cost of living rises

Emergency budgets called for

We are a petty people

In many ways and none

It's all still young

This promised land

This Eden

Where all can rise as one

Beneath a gentle sun

The storm clouds clear

Soft droplets fall from

tattered drainpipes

           Now your statues are standing and pouring sweat

          They shiver with dread

---

Kenneth Hickey was born in 1975 in Cobh, Co. Cork Ireland. He served in the Irish Naval Service between 1993 and 2000. His poetry and prose has been published in various literary journals in Ireland, the UK and the United States including Southword, Crannoig, THE SHOP, A New Ulster, Aesthetica Magazine and The Great American Poetry show. His writing for theatre has been performed in Ireland, the UK, New York and Paris. He has won the Eamon Keane Full Length Play Award as well as being shortlisted for The PJ O’Connor Award and the Tony Doyle Bursary. He was shortlisted for the Bournmouth Poetry Prize in 2022. He has been selected for the Poetry in the Park project and has been awarded a poetry mentorship by Munster Literature Centre. He was awarded a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre by Cork County Council in 2022. HE has been highly commended in the Munster Literature Centre’s Fool for Poetry Chapbook competition and was shortlisted in the 2022 Poets Meet Painter Competition. His work in film has been screened at the Cork and Foyle Film Festivals. He holds a BA and MA in English Literature both from University College Cork. His debut collection ‘The Unicycle Paradox’ was published by Revival Press in November 2021. His second book ‘Krieg’ will be published in 2024 also by Revival Press. He still resides in Cork.