By the time we cross the Shannon
the two drunks down the back
are asleep.
The pretty girl across the aisle
still telling lies
to her phone.
The moon, so full in Dublin,
gave up the chase somewhere
in the midland bogs.
The vague sway, the faint
sticky sound of tyres on tar.
We are all in this together,
moving forward, going home,
going away. City lights,
the college, the hospice.
The driver keeps his radio to a murmur.
The sign on the skylight –
Emergency Exit – Break Glass.
Oh World!
Do you love us, World,
do you love us at all?

Gerard Hanbury’s recent publications are the poetry collection What Our Shoes Say About Us ( Salmon, 2014 ) and the non-fiction On Raglan Road - Great Love Songs and the Women Who Inspired Them ( Collins Press, 2016 ).