A Picture of a Poet Peddling and Market Meddling off Pat

On a recent visit abroad, some friends of ours gave us a cutting from the International Herald Tribune with a photo of what the paper described as a ‘poet peddling’ his work on the street and set this in the context of the Irish Government concerning itself with the easing of the country’s debt crisis. However, the two subjects are entirely unlinked as the poet in the photo is one Pat Ingoldsby who in fact has been selling his poetry on Westmoreland Street in Dublin for many years seemingly more concerned with the welfare of his own cat ‘Willow’ than any economic Celtic Tiger. In fact Pat has self published some twenty volumes of poetry, prose and even children’s books and is a well known feature of the Dublin Urban landscape. The Irish Times recently had a feature article dedicated to the launch of his latest book called “I thought you died years ago”. It would appear that some people knowing that Pat is now in his late sixties sometimes pose this question to him with typical Dublin sensitivity and reticence. Pat is quoted as stating that he felt ‘almost as if I let them down by not doing so (dying). I always apologise and promise to try harder’. The poems of Pat Ingoldsby are acutely perceptive and full of pathos and humour. In fact, they often remind me of the work of the American writer Richard Brautigan in the early seventies such is there lovely gentle humour linked to a highly imaginative take on the human condition. I would like to quote as an example part of his poem called ‘The Last Supper’ from his book “If you don’t tell anybody, I won’t” published in 1996:

“The man with nowhere to go
Stood under
The cold petrified
Night-time tree
In the middle of
O’Connell Street.
Because he had nothing
else to do
he joined up
all the white dots
which the birds had dropped
onto the pavement
and he created
a perfect picture
of the Last Supper.”

Pat Ingoldsby says that he continues to wander the world with a trolley full of books and dreams. At this stage I probably know some of his older poems ‘off Pat’, i.e. by heart, so I am particularly looking forward to reading his new book. Finally, the newspaper photo of him has a poster saying ‘ Dublin Poet I’d be a God anywhere else’. Well, to some of us who are acutely appreciative of his personal charisma and wonderful work, he indeed manifests the touch of the Almighty.