Biddy Jenkinson (a pseudonym) is an Irish poet, short story writer and dramatist who writes in the Irish language. She was born in 1949 in Dublin and attended University College Cork. She has published several collections of verse, two collections of short stories and two plays. It has been said of Jenkinson that she seeks to recreate a sense of the sacral world of nature and women’s role in sustaining it.
Her chosen creative language is Irish and she has expressed her opposition to ‘the insistence that everything written in Irish be translated immediately into English’. Her work has been praised for its passion, humor and variety. She was editor of Éigse Éireann/Poetry Ireland Review from 2000 to 2001.
EVE IN HER GARDEN IN THIS VALE OF TEARS
Biddy Jenkinson
Translated from the Irish by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill
Accursed be the soil because of you.
With suffering shall you get your food from it
every day of your life. —Genesis 3:17
I spend a lot of time upon my knees
serving the earth.
I sow seeds in soil.
I arrange the roots of trees in rich peat moss.
I sing “sean-nos” in chorus with
vixens, donkeys, bees, hens,
children, ravens, cows…
I understand the why and wherefore of the worm’s knot,
the warbling and the chuckling of birds.
Under my care
apples grow,
ears of oats turn blond,
hens go broody, cows seek the bull,
love puts down roots.
The drops on my brow
are sweated delight.
The child is worth the birth pang.
Life is worth its price.
I cancel out the curse of God,
defeat his greatest effort.
I grow posies of flowers
on the hobstone of hell.