Friday Five: Seamus Heaney

1. Requiem for the Croppies

...And in August the barley grew up out of the grave.

2. Mid-Term Break

...Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,

Away at school, as my mother held my hand

In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.

3. Death of a Naturalist

...There were dragon-flies, spotted butterflies,

But best of all was the warm thick slobber

Of frogspawn that grew like clotted water

in the shade of the banks.

4. Mother of the Groom

...What she remembers

Is his glistening back

In the bath, his small boots

In the ring of boots at her feet.

5. An Ulster Twilight

...Eric, tonight I saw it all

Like shadows on your workshop wall,

Smelled wood shavings under the bench,

Weighed the cold steel monkey-wrench

In my soft hand, then stood at the road

To watch your wavering tail-light fade

And knew that if we met again

In an Ulster twilight we would begin

And end whatever we might say

In a speech all toys and carpentry,

A doorstep courtesy to shun

Your father's uniform and gun.

http://www.poemhunter.com/seamus-heaney/poems/page-1/