Just Going Out

Now a piece from a regular contributor, Joseph Millar. Mr Jameson asked his Leaving Certificate pupils to find a line from their poetry anthology that intrigued them and then to write a piece in any form of writing prompted by this.

The line Joey chose was from Derek Mahon's poem 'Antarctica', the famous statement by the explorer Captain Oates, on Scott's 1912 expedition, "I am just going outside and may be some time".

The piece starts :-

Tom won’t arrive for a while yet, so for the time being I have the flat to myself. I close the door, and drop the keys onto a table that is too big for the room. Beside me is a cardboard box. It is filled with my things: books, CD’s, clothes, and it’s depressing to see how easily my life can be compressed. The word “MOVING” is crayoned onto the side, accompanied by three nauseatingly blasé exclamation marks. In this empty flat, the box acts as a sort of centrepiece, and that alone should highlight the aesthetically destitute home I had made for myself. I’m standing in Dublin’s only sensual deprivation chamber, and what’s worse, I’m paying €300 a month for the pleasure.

Read on here.