St. Stephen's Green 1783

By Theresa Donnelly 

The punishment stipulates

a sudden-                   snap.

The still-warm-               swing

under the influence of gravity.

Hoarfrost twines-  

the guilty to the innocent. 

Surrounded by streets where

bread means survival.

Robbery equates-

a death sentence.

Limbs dragged

to uphold the law.

Yearning a grove-

beyond the frosted web.

Slinking roots

into this metropolis.

A loathsome birthright

to be forever remembered-

as the Hanging Tree.

Bio

Theresa Donnelly is an Irish/Canadian poet who spends her time between Waterville, Co. Kerry and Brooklin, Ontario. Her work has been widley published on both sides of the Atlantic. She is the author of two poetry books, Moon Witch and Other Scary Poems and Recurrence of Blue. Growing up in Dublin, the city of Dracula’s Bram Stoker definitely influenced and fed her appetite for the macabre www.theresadonnelly.com