Untitled Document

Himself
after Simon Armitage

Kevin Higgins

His big bald head was a deposed Prime Minister
sent to live by the seaside.
His laughter was a patch of sunlight
where the cat remembered California .
His ‘goodnight' was a guru watching his last disciple leave.
His brand new sweater was a clerical error
that happened just before lunch on a Wednesday.
His favourite poem was a personal ad:
“Ugandan Male, 36, seeks white woman, 18-21.
Must Be A Non-Smoker”.
His sexual preference was none of the above.
His political views were the bit
that just wouldn't flush down.
His line of argument was a room with nothing in it
except a fat man full of Supermacs food.
His mouth was a letter-box
with a gale force wind blowing through it.

His end was a hard-boiled egg,
that was still warm when they found him.

Kevin Higgins lives in Galway. His first collection ‘The Boy With No Face' was published by Salmon in February 2005. In February 2006 he received an Arts Council Travel Award to do a five stop reading tour of the US Mid-West. On the basis of his first collection, Kevin has been chosen by Strong Award judge Thomas McCarthy to read at the 2006 Strong Reading at the Poetry Now Festival in Dun Laoghaire. Kevin's poem 'A Brief History Of Those Who Made Their Point Politely And Then Went Home' was nominated as one of the 'favourite poems of 2005' by contributors to the prominent UK-based website http://www.thepoem.co.uk/ .With his wife Susan Millar DuMars, Kevin organises the Over The Edge: Open Reading series in Galway City Library.