Only Half in the World of Form

by Mark Childs

Only half in the world of form -

now a horse, now a goat, now a rabbit -

púcaí substantiate themselves.

In each age, some fundamental funniness

of space-time figures itself

into a barleycorn figment,

and pays us a visit.

Púcaí once took fermented farmers

on soul-shaking midnight rides

and left them in dawn's grey ditch.

Then the two-horned Puca of November

taught pipers and poets to play,

and, in the new world, Harvey

was big brother to a gentle soul.

Who will join us for drinks in the pubs

of Mars and Ceres' smoke bars

for the next lesson?

Title line from Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry, Edited and Selected by W. B. Yeats, 1888, p95.