Céad Míle Fáilte, my dearest digital friends. Pour yourself a lovely pint and come join me in a bee-buzzed glen above a riled Irish sea. Let’s watch the sunset together. Ah, that’s nice. 🍺
After reading this week’s poem, if you’re so inclined, feel free to scroll down and check out some of the things happening in my world as I continue these adventures in writing. Now, for some poetry….
This week’s poem has been extracted from the archives. My wife and I are departing for our annual vacation in Ireland today (Dingle, this year), and some poems know when to knock from inside the old sock drawer.
Several years ago, I wrote Emer’s vow from that peculiar place where myth and marriage climb into bed together for a quickie. This poem was their progeny.
The Irish stories are full of warriors, gods, curses, blood-feuds, fairy mischief, doomed men making doomed decisions with spectacular confidence. Naturally, men call this heroism in literature. Smell the testosterone and cue the Tim Allen grunts.
Marriage, on the other hand, teaches a person to become suspicious of spectacle.
The older I get, the less convinced I am that love is proved by lightning, grand speeches, or anyone running dramatically through an airport.
Love is constancy. Love is the person who has seen the whole weather system of you, rain-drenched walks and all. And still chooses to stay. Love is packing the charger, remembering the passports, forgiving the mood you blamed on “travel stress,” and somehow making even the worst ass-hat versions of yourself redeemable.
That is what drew me back to Emer, the wife of the great Irish hero Cú Chulainn. She is remembered less for spectacle than for her fierce intelligence, fidelity, and vow. Not merely romance, but the keeping. The daily miracle of someone remaining beside you after the music quiets and the myth gets mud on its boots.
Maybe that is why this poem feels right to revisit this week. We are going to Ireland, yes, but I think the real country here is constancy: that green, stubborn place where love stops performing and simply abides.
My deepest wish is that all of you have known, at least once, the grace of being loved after the spectacle has ended.
As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts, feelings, and reactions to this week’s poem in the “Leave a Reply” comment section at the very bottom of this page.
-PS Conway 🍀 🍀 🍀
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Emer’s vow
the sun rests above the tree line
worn from its toils in the sky,
and i journey westward,
a weary hound to his final sleep,
into the arms of waiting night.
for ‘tis but a fading daydream, this life –
such blood and strife
the cruelty of crows.
the ghosts of my sins
torment me so,
with poisoned spears
and sightless eyes.
and you, my love, await me
in a bee-buzzed seaside glen
dressed in white, lost in poetry.
the scent of honey lingers on your breath
a whisper between then and now,
as steadfast as Emer’s vow.
‘tis there in your arms
i shall at last find my peace
no Sidhe shall bind me,
nor fate lay claim to my soul.
for death is but a single thing –
the absence of you.
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This Week’s Links to My Published Work…
- Purchase Echoes Lost in Stars
- on Amazon USA: https://a.co/d/eZPzwxX
- on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/ebjqinU
- on Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/avWTF19
- on Amazon DE: https://amzn.eu/d/8IDYSIv
- Purchase Life Sucks
- on Amazon USA: https://a.co/d/arnze2N
- on Amazon Canada: https://a.co/d/8sBYofv
- on Amazon UK: https://amzn.eu/d/brzfJ4l
- on Amazon DE: https://amzn.eu/d/95Y4WAA
- My author website: https://psconway.com/
- My Interview with AllAuthor: https://allauthor.com/interview/psconway/
Media News…
*NEW* My interview with Steve Cuden for his brilliant podcast StoryBeat – what a great conversation! https://www.storybeat.net/p-s-pat-conway-poet-episode-395/
*NEW* My interview with Editor-in-Chief, Gabriela Marie Milton of Literary Revelations Publishing House: https://literaryrevelations.com/2026/01/25/the-portrait-of-a-poet-ps-conway/
*NEW* My interview with author Tricia Copeland on her podcast Finding the Magic Book is now available to watch: https://youtu.be/NhieYECI-H4
Latest Publication News
It has been a productive last few months for me. 12 POEMS published. If you are interested in a reading any of these, I have embedded the Amazon links below.
- This week, my 5 untitled haiku have been published in the haiku anthology, Haiku for Soulmates, published by the brilliant and award-winning Gabriela Marie Milton and Literary Revelations Publishing House. This is a gorgeous book – click on the title for the Amazon link.
* - My poem mercy were published in The Ekphrastic Review on May 12. They are a literary “online journal devoted entirely to writing inspired by visual art. Their objective is to promote ekphrastic writing, promote art appreciation, and experience how the two strengthen each other and bring enrichment to every facet of life.”
* - My 3 poems – the wet centre is bottomless, laugh tracks, and three flights away – were published in Mouthful of Salt in Issue #3 on April 27. They are “a Black-led literary journal dedicated to bold, boundary-pushing storytelling. Our editorial vision is shaped by a wide range of lived experiences, and we are committed to creating a space where writers from across the globe can be seen, heard, and celebrated.”
* - My poem the color of staying was published in the Spring’26 edition of PHIL LIT Journal on March 15. This literary journal “promotes writing that engages with philosophical, metaphysical, ethical, & existential themes; without sacrificing beauty, craft, surprise, or risk.” Please be sure to check it out.
* - I have 2 poems – paint and i have seen love do the same – published in The Belfast Review, Winter/Spring 2026. Based in the north of Ireland, this gorgeous emerging literary magazine, in addition to poetry, “aims to create a dialogue between the arts, featuring genres not usually included in literary journals such as song lyrics, plays, screenplays, and hybrid forms, to better reflect the lived experience of art, the self, and the city.”
Latest News – Life Sucks…
So far, Life Sucks has received many ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Editorial Reviews. More to come soon.
I’m anticipating a whole bunch of solid Reader Reviews to begin populating Amazon in the next few weeks, too. The goal is to get to 50 Reader Reviews ASAP to kick Amazon’s promotion engine into a higher gear.
Speaking of Editorial Reviews, we secured a BIG ONE – BookLife. This is the indie press division of Publishers Weekly and represents a major credibility lift to my published work. Here is a link, in case you’re interested in reading the entire review:
And here are a few other snippets of other editorial reactions so far!
– “Snort-laughs and gasp-worthy wit – PS Conway goes there, and it’s hilarious.”
– “A must-read for anyone stressed, cynical, or just in need of a damn good laugh.”
– “Darkly funny, brutally honest, and weirdly comforting – like therapy, but with colonoscopies.”
🍀 COME BACK EACH WEEK FOR NEW POETRY 🍀
Your poem beautifully balances the heavy scars of a long struggle against the soft, honey-scented peace of eternal devotion. It is a stunning reminder that true peace means leaving the battlefield behind to find shelter in a love that endures. ❤️ for this one!
Woot woot! You had me at “stunning,” PS! So glad the message resonated. I think this poem will speak to different people in different ways. But how you described it sits squarely with me. Thanks, my friend. ☘️🙏🏻🥂🌹🙏🏻☘️