Lorna Reynolds: Irish Woman Poet

Of all the neglected 20th century Irish women poets to have disappeared into virtual limbo, Lorna Reynolds (1911 – 2003) ranks amongst the most completely forgotten. Although she published widely in magazines, her poems were never collected, and so she is remembered, if at all, for her work as a teacher and as editor of the Irish University Review. She was also a member of the Anti-Censorship Board and the Women’s Social and Progressive League. My Love Came Back To Me was published in The Lace Curtain 4 (Summer 1971).

My Love Came Back To Me

My love came back to me,
Wearing dead men’s clothes.
I did not know it was so,
But smelled the mould.

My love came back to me,
Bearing flowers from dead men’s bones,
I did not know it was so,
But felt the cold.

My love came back to me,
Smiling bright and suave;
But when he pressed his lips to mine
I knew his mouth a grave.