Picture: Keith Wiseman
FORMERLY a teacher with Limerick School of Art and Design, Ciarán O’Driscoll has had a lively parallel life as poet. A stalwart of CUISLE Limerick City International Poetry Festival every October and all it brings to Limerick and stimulates within, O’Driscoll is a member of Aosdána.
‘Scobie in the Bisque’ is a bit of mischief from the City of Culture anthology, ‘Dream of a City’. He defines ‘scobie’ as “Limerick slang for a budding criminal or a boy from a deprived background”.
Poetic licence? But he has fun with a mash of clichés, from the parquet that supports the middle class to tones of Basil Fawlty imperiousness. The waiter has his moment of revenge: ‘sir’ is spelled lower case.
Scobie in the Bisque
Waiter, is this some kind of dupe?/ I’ve found a scobie in my soup./ He’s doing a breast-stroke towards the dole/ across my bisque of lobster’s bowl.
He’s caused my peace to fly the coop,/ this brat from a lower income group./ I fear it won’t be long before/ his sneakers sully my parquet floor.
Waiter, please put me in the loop:/ why is this scobie in my soup?/
It’s the social charge that you incur/ for dining sumptuously, sir.
Astrolabe Press, 2014
