Thurles man Larry's debut lockdown book of poetry

Thurlesman Larry Doherty has just published his debut collection of poetry, entitled ‘The State of Us’.

Larry, or Doc as he is known to many, has been writing poetry for several years. Although he had been threatening to publish for quite a while, it was only after much encouragement from friends and family that he finally bit the bullet and decided to put the lockdowns to good use.

So he started to gather, sort, finish and edit a sizable collection of his poems. Larry eventually settled on eighty five and set about the huge task of putting his first book together.

He enlisted the invaluable help of Brendan O’Connor to set out, typeset and co-ordinate the book’s printing. He also used a beautiful painting that he owns of a white horse by the brilliant Thurles artist Jurga Ryan, with her generous permission, as the basis for the beautiful cover design created by Jana Lulovska. One of his poems is actually titled ‘White Horse’.
Larry is a new and, hopefully, clear and refreshing voice on the Irish poetry scene. He is a native of Ard na Croise, Thurles and currently resides here having spent much of his adult life in Dublin.

He has four wonderful grown up children and nine magical, young grandchildren, who are his pride and joy. They live in Dublin, in Co Louth and in Glasgow. So lockdown has been a challenging time for him and them, just like it has for many, many other people.

‘The State of Us’ is Larry’s debut collection and it is eclectic and nuanced but, he believes, very accessible. It reflects his thoughts and feelings on life in these surreal and challenging times, the state of us in this world and the impact of this world on us, as well as considering our natural and political environments.
Larry is greatly moved by the beauty and majesty of the natural world and by good nature in each other. But he also voices concerns about the direction our world is taking.

There are two long poems recollecting childhood memories in his home town of Thurles, a couple about his wonderful elderly parents, Paddy and Nora, who live in Thurles, as well as some humorous and anecdotal poems. His own favorite piece is ‘Out of an Egg’, a short little story about one of his grandchildren.

Considerations on mindfulness, gratitude, philosophy of life and personal reflection feature strongly throughout the book. There is also a true ballad about the injustice of a black man, sixty year old Willie Simmons, currently imprisoned, since 1982, for life without parole in an Alabama prison for four non-violent crimes.

No matter what else, Larry hopes that readers find at least some of his poems impactful, thought provoking and enjoyable.
‘The State of Us’ can be obtained directly from Larry himself or his family and some close friends, from his website www.larrydoherty poetry.ie, as well as from local bookshops - Bookworm and Eason’s in Thurles and hopefully in the coming days from a few more outlets in the region.

It retails at €15 and a donation from every book sold will go to Down Syndrome Tipperary Branch who are in the process of developing and building educational and therapeutic facilities in their new centre at Abbey Road, Thurles. No doubt this book would make a beautiful Christmas or birthday gift for someone special in your life or for the most important person in your life - yourself!

Here are a few excerpts from his poems:
‘....copper beech
grasping onto her clothes
crisp brown leaves
resplendent
amidst thousand-shade greens browns....’

‘....coral reefed to death near midnight
the ocean like an angry head
we’ve just ignored the ice queen melting
her pet white bears the walking dead...’

‘...a tangential string
slingshotting away from the moment
and rejoining too late...’

‘....approaching winter
end of warmth
end of reviewing
time to hunker down
and hibernate
those feelings....’

‘......the Gobán still roams and soars so saor
round Derrynaflan and it’s bog so bare
the sun shone through and I know he listened
his chisel’s perfect angle glistened’

‘......if all you learned in Eton was
blatant bluster ballyhoo
your bullshit will build into mass
and conspire to start a coup..’

‘......a leopard with unchanged spots entered this one horse town
and acting the goat closed the stable door
after the dark horse being brought to water had bolted it
nearly enough to make it drink..’