IN THE BECOMING: poems on the Deirdre story, by Margaret McCarthy
Publication Date: November 15, 2024
Paperback, 72 pages
ISBN: 978-1-956782-86-8
“The seed of a story is buried here; / this rampart holds its language.” The story is that of Deirdre, tragic heroine out of ancient Ireland, muse to many a previous bard. But uniquely here, in the vision of poet Margaret McCarthy, her story becomes all about language: “I did not know what I had created – this / s o u n d / made before human speech / s o u n d / before language.” In McCarthy’s program, “The poems made in her own voice became a meditation on a creative woman’s coming to language; how she literally ‘finds her voice’ from the core of her own individuality. Her voice insists on poetry as a kind of magic language, an agent of change, the true language of the spirit.” And because it is an on-going transformation, Deirdre, expression of language itself, is ever in the becoming, an “exuberant letting go / towards the unknown / heart at the center.” After giving voice to Deirdre witnessing her own legendary time, in a tour de force conclusion McCarthy transport her to modern day New York City, a place in which she is strangely at home, her mission never more timely: “After all this / unfolding, after all this time, / I had to come back. / I had all these things I had to tell you.” The unfolding creative power of poetry as the language of the spirit continues, ever becoming.
Praise for Margaret McCarthy & In the Becoming
Margaret McCarthy rescues the tragic heroine of Irish legends, “Deirdre of the Sorrows,” by channeling her voice via the frothy enchantment of the sentient natural world. Once a victim, now a seeker, she gives birth to questions. Magic overtakes her, heals her, opens her, solves all of her mysteries, and then renews her. Many have retold the tale of the doomed young lovers—Yeats, Synge, James Stephens, Morgan Llywelyn, come to mind—yet beyond this lush wordscape of dreams and forests, of city and country, there is a steadfast feminist edge undercutting the predictable and making everything delightfully brand new.
—Richard Peabody, editor, Gargoyle Magazine
But who would have thought it would cause so much pain
to forget where we’d come from?
I am not the same person I was when I began my journey reading In the Becoming. In fact, I forgot where I came from—and then I remembered. Margaret McCarthy’s exquisite imagery and sense of history took me to dark and brutal places and then gently ushered me back into the present, feeling dazzled, my eyes opened. I am glad to be alive, glad to share a world with McCarthy’s poetry. She writes for all time, for all people, but especially for those of us who know something about struggle, despair, and loss. In carefully sculpted lines, McCarthy presents us with the possibility of being born into this world anew. And in these times of violence, loss and despair, these poems feel like a miracle.
—Jamie Cat Callan, creator of The Writers Toolbox
Words are magic. Poet Margaret McCarthy invokes the Muse to free our spirits and reenchant the world.
—Phyllis Curott, author of Book of Shadows, Witches Wisdom Tarot, Spells for Living Well
About the Author
Margaret McCarthy is a poet, playwright and photographer. The female characters of mythology, particularly Celtic myth, are a continual source of inspiration for her work. Her poetry collection NOTEBOOKS FROM MYSTERY SCHOOL (Finishing Line Press) was a New Women’s Voices Award finalist. Her poems have appeared in: The Pagan Muse: Poems of Ritual and Inspiration, Working Papers in Irish Studies, Cyphers Magazine (Ireland), The Albero Project (Italy) Poetry New Zealand, Gargoyle Magazine, HIV HERE AND NOW ON-LINE POETRY PROJECT, Braided Way Magazine, Home Planet News, Shaking Like A Mountain: On line Literature about Contemporary Music, California State Poetry Society Quarterly and Poets and Peace International. Her work has been performed in programs at La Mama Theatre, Poetic Theatre Productions, NYC, The English Speaking Union of New York, The Hudson Valley Writers Association, and Irish American Writers and Artists (IAW&A) monthly salons at The Cell Theatre, NYC. McCarthy works as a professional photographer in New York City; her photographs have been widely exhibited. www.margaretmccarthy.com
Publication Date: November 15, 2024
Paperback, 72 pages
ISBN: 978-1-956782-86-8
“The seed of a story is buried here; / this rampart holds its language.” The story is that of Deirdre, tragic heroine out of ancient Ireland, muse to many a previous bard. But uniquely here, in the vision of poet Margaret McCarthy, her story becomes all about language: “I did not know what I had created – this / s o u n d / made before human speech / s o u n d / before language.” In McCarthy’s program, “The poems made in her own voice became a meditation on a creative woman’s coming to language; how she literally ‘finds her voice’ from the core of her own individuality. Her voice insists on poetry as a kind of magic language, an agent of change, the true language of the spirit.” And because it is an on-going transformation, Deirdre, expression of language itself, is ever in the becoming, an “exuberant letting go / towards the unknown / heart at the center.” After giving voice to Deirdre witnessing her own legendary time, in a tour de force conclusion McCarthy transport her to modern day New York City, a place in which she is strangely at home, her mission never more timely: “After all this / unfolding, after all this time, / I had to come back. / I had all these things I had to tell you.” The unfolding creative power of poetry as the language of the spirit continues, ever becoming.
Praise for Margaret McCarthy & In the Becoming
Margaret McCarthy rescues the tragic heroine of Irish legends, “Deirdre of the Sorrows,” by channeling her voice via the frothy enchantment of the sentient natural world. Once a victim, now a seeker, she gives birth to questions. Magic overtakes her, heals her, opens her, solves all of her mysteries, and then renews her. Many have retold the tale of the doomed young lovers—Yeats, Synge, James Stephens, Morgan Llywelyn, come to mind—yet beyond this lush wordscape of dreams and forests, of city and country, there is a steadfast feminist edge undercutting the predictable and making everything delightfully brand new.
—Richard Peabody, editor, Gargoyle Magazine
But who would have thought it would cause so much pain
to forget where we’d come from?
I am not the same person I was when I began my journey reading In the Becoming. In fact, I forgot where I came from—and then I remembered. Margaret McCarthy’s exquisite imagery and sense of history took me to dark and brutal places and then gently ushered me back into the present, feeling dazzled, my eyes opened. I am glad to be alive, glad to share a world with McCarthy’s poetry. She writes for all time, for all people, but especially for those of us who know something about struggle, despair, and loss. In carefully sculpted lines, McCarthy presents us with the possibility of being born into this world anew. And in these times of violence, loss and despair, these poems feel like a miracle.
—Jamie Cat Callan, creator of The Writers Toolbox
Words are magic. Poet Margaret McCarthy invokes the Muse to free our spirits and reenchant the world.
—Phyllis Curott, author of Book of Shadows, Witches Wisdom Tarot, Spells for Living Well
About the Author
Margaret McCarthy is a poet, playwright and photographer. The female characters of mythology, particularly Celtic myth, are a continual source of inspiration for her work. Her poetry collection NOTEBOOKS FROM MYSTERY SCHOOL (Finishing Line Press) was a New Women’s Voices Award finalist. Her poems have appeared in: The Pagan Muse: Poems of Ritual and Inspiration, Working Papers in Irish Studies, Cyphers Magazine (Ireland), The Albero Project (Italy) Poetry New Zealand, Gargoyle Magazine, HIV HERE AND NOW ON-LINE POETRY PROJECT, Braided Way Magazine, Home Planet News, Shaking Like A Mountain: On line Literature about Contemporary Music, California State Poetry Society Quarterly and Poets and Peace International. Her work has been performed in programs at La Mama Theatre, Poetic Theatre Productions, NYC, The English Speaking Union of New York, The Hudson Valley Writers Association, and Irish American Writers and Artists (IAW&A) monthly salons at The Cell Theatre, NYC. McCarthy works as a professional photographer in New York City; her photographs have been widely exhibited. www.margaretmccarthy.com
Publication Date: November 15, 2024
Paperback, 72 pages
ISBN: 978-1-956782-86-8
“The seed of a story is buried here; / this rampart holds its language.” The story is that of Deirdre, tragic heroine out of ancient Ireland, muse to many a previous bard. But uniquely here, in the vision of poet Margaret McCarthy, her story becomes all about language: “I did not know what I had created – this / s o u n d / made before human speech / s o u n d / before language.” In McCarthy’s program, “The poems made in her own voice became a meditation on a creative woman’s coming to language; how she literally ‘finds her voice’ from the core of her own individuality. Her voice insists on poetry as a kind of magic language, an agent of change, the true language of the spirit.” And because it is an on-going transformation, Deirdre, expression of language itself, is ever in the becoming, an “exuberant letting go / towards the unknown / heart at the center.” After giving voice to Deirdre witnessing her own legendary time, in a tour de force conclusion McCarthy transport her to modern day New York City, a place in which she is strangely at home, her mission never more timely: “After all this / unfolding, after all this time, / I had to come back. / I had all these things I had to tell you.” The unfolding creative power of poetry as the language of the spirit continues, ever becoming.
Praise for Margaret McCarthy & In the Becoming
Margaret McCarthy rescues the tragic heroine of Irish legends, “Deirdre of the Sorrows,” by channeling her voice via the frothy enchantment of the sentient natural world. Once a victim, now a seeker, she gives birth to questions. Magic overtakes her, heals her, opens her, solves all of her mysteries, and then renews her. Many have retold the tale of the doomed young lovers—Yeats, Synge, James Stephens, Morgan Llywelyn, come to mind—yet beyond this lush wordscape of dreams and forests, of city and country, there is a steadfast feminist edge undercutting the predictable and making everything delightfully brand new.
—Richard Peabody, editor, Gargoyle Magazine
But who would have thought it would cause so much pain
to forget where we’d come from?
I am not the same person I was when I began my journey reading In the Becoming. In fact, I forgot where I came from—and then I remembered. Margaret McCarthy’s exquisite imagery and sense of history took me to dark and brutal places and then gently ushered me back into the present, feeling dazzled, my eyes opened. I am glad to be alive, glad to share a world with McCarthy’s poetry. She writes for all time, for all people, but especially for those of us who know something about struggle, despair, and loss. In carefully sculpted lines, McCarthy presents us with the possibility of being born into this world anew. And in these times of violence, loss and despair, these poems feel like a miracle.
—Jamie Cat Callan, creator of The Writers Toolbox
Words are magic. Poet Margaret McCarthy invokes the Muse to free our spirits and reenchant the world.
—Phyllis Curott, author of Book of Shadows, Witches Wisdom Tarot, Spells for Living Well
About the Author
Margaret McCarthy is a poet, playwright and photographer. The female characters of mythology, particularly Celtic myth, are a continual source of inspiration for her work. Her poetry collection NOTEBOOKS FROM MYSTERY SCHOOL (Finishing Line Press) was a New Women’s Voices Award finalist. Her poems have appeared in: The Pagan Muse: Poems of Ritual and Inspiration, Working Papers in Irish Studies, Cyphers Magazine (Ireland), The Albero Project (Italy) Poetry New Zealand, Gargoyle Magazine, HIV HERE AND NOW ON-LINE POETRY PROJECT, Braided Way Magazine, Home Planet News, Shaking Like A Mountain: On line Literature about Contemporary Music, California State Poetry Society Quarterly and Poets and Peace International. Her work has been performed in programs at La Mama Theatre, Poetic Theatre Productions, NYC, The English Speaking Union of New York, The Hudson Valley Writers Association, and Irish American Writers and Artists (IAW&A) monthly salons at The Cell Theatre, NYC. McCarthy works as a professional photographer in New York City; her photographs have been widely exhibited. www.margaretmccarthy.com