Shillelagh

John Layton

Knotted witch-branch of blackthorn,

divining rod of peat-dark futures,

twisting shaft the colour

of a patent-leather shoe.

When I remember how to walk again,

tentative, slouching steps,

palm straining the polished club,

I can hear the unseelie whispers

and feel the old-wood magic wards

like briared sinews, curse-breaking.

It's autumn, and the hour for harvesting

the purple bitter fruits approaches.

The portals to the Otherworld are cracked.

Burn your fires for the aes sídhe—

burn away the blight.

Note: A shillelagh is an Irish walking or fighting stick, traditionally made from blackthorn (or sloe) wood. The aes sídhe are the fae, the supernatural denizens of the Irish otherworld.

JOHN LAYTON is a sometimes poet from Dharawal Country who mostly spends his creative juices writing D&D campaigns. He enjoys post-war Australian poetry, Magic: The Gathering, and basketball. He has been writing lots of poems about death lately.