In ‘Mount Cargill’ a poem in Maurice Whelan’s book Excalibur’s Return he described running up Mount Cargill in New Zealand with Richard O’Neill-Dean to whom that volume was dedicated. Richard responded to Maurice’s latest collection Spirit Eyes with a poem of his own after discussing how Maurice sets about crafting a poem and the importance he attaches to a central thought or idea upon which the poem is constructed.
Shipwright
for Maurice Whelan poet
He might look out the odd plank
let it season slowly
covered from the rain
so that frames ribs stringers
in the imagination slowly form
the particular twist or warp or grain
of a thought
favouring the idea of a hull
sensitive to wind and wave
to keep out storms
to manage strains.
But beyond all the keelson
massive strong
it must permit of no bend
take long keel-bolts
going down through heartwood
to fasten the lead weight
of a real thought
many tons
to keep a good poem upright
and carrying on
tied in tight to bind
all between the sweet lines
of its stem and stern
to make a fine entry
to set its wake
upon the oceans
of the mind
