Spirit Eyes

<p>In ‘Mount Cargill’ a poem in Maurice Whelan’s book <em>Excalibur’s Return</em> he described running up Mount Cargill in New Zealand with Richard O’Neill-Dean to whom that volume was dedicated. Richard responded to Maurice’s latest collection <em>Spirit Eyes</em> with a poem of his own after discussing how Maurice sets about crafting a poem and the importance he attaches to a central thought or idea upon which the poem is constructed.</p><p><strong>Shipwright</strong></p><p>for Maurice Whelan poet</p><p>He might look out the odd plank</p><p>let it season slowly</p><p>covered from the rain</p><p>so that frames ribs stringers</p><p>in the imagination slowly form</p><p>the particular twist or warp or grain</p><p>of a thought</p><p>favouring the idea of a hull</p><p>sensitive to wind and wave</p><p>to keep out storms</p><p>to manage strains.</p><p>But beyond all the keelson</p><p>massive strong</p><p>it must permit of no bend</p><p>take long keel-bolts</p><p>going down through heartwood</p><p>to fasten the lead weight</p><p>of a real thought</p><p>many tons</p><p>to keep a good poem upright</p><p>and carrying on</p><p>tied in tight to bind</p><p>all between the sweet lines</p><p>of its stem and stern</p><p>to make a fine entry</p><p>to set its wake</p><p>upon the oceans</p><p>of the mind</p>