Kate O’Neill is the author of a full-length collection of poetry, Harp in Hand: Poems of Ireland (3: A Taos Press, 2026). Her letterpress chapbook, Emulsifying Fires: Ansel Adams in New Mexico (Dreaming Dog Books, 2022) was produced as a handmade edition of 100 copies and is now out of print. Her poems have appeared in numerous anthologies and journals internationally. She holds dual United States and Irish citizenship.
Harp in Hand: Poems of Ireland (2026)
Harp in Hand gets to the heart of what it means to be called home by the spirit of Ireland.
Featured Poem: Pass of Birds: Mám Éan
Slightest heat, a flickering pulse,
the oldest grief you will ever sing
permeates stone pentimento.
Ancient portraits appear alive—
charcoal-stippled shades reel
through astronomical twilight.
Years bleach gaze to gauze,
scything blades smudge
ash into apparition.
Relations appear hand-drawn,
glass slightly fogged—condensed
in incandescent wonder.
Each re-darned stitch catches
lineage until everything
interlaces into luck
minus worry.
Crow pair bears keen witness—
tilted heads bid—
Where have you wandered?
Why so long away?