Scapegoat and Other Poems

Scapegoat and Other Poems displays the remarkable versatility of Alan Gillis's voice, the range of his subjects, and the perspicacity of his poems. He moves from the popular to the political, from the satirical to the lyrical, with exceptional ease and insight. In "Progress," "To Belfast," "Laganside," and "In the Shadow of the Mournes," Gillis reveals, like Derek Mahon and Louis MacNeice before him, his ability to plumb the depths of the complicated society of Northern Ireland. In the title poem, Gillis captures the religious and political implications of a society that too long has looked to find a scapegoat for its woes. From his first published poem, "The Ulster Way," he has turned social pressures back upon the self, exploring the limitations and possibilities of personal freedom: All this is in your head. If you walk, don't walk away, in silence, under the stars' ice-fires of violence, to the water's darkened strand. For this is not about horizons, or their curving...