In Memory of Sinéad O’Connor
by Diane Elayne Dees
She searched for God,
she searched for self,
she searched for a safe place
to build a nest and nurture
the fragments of her soul.
The Magdalene Laundries
tried to wash her clean;
she suffered alone,
slept with the dying,
and—though forced into silence—
her voice escaped the prison.
Her voice—the voice that sang
like an angel, the voice that told
the truth that no one wanted to hear—
could not be silenced.
Her nerves on fire, her joints
inflamed, her past injecting pain
into her flesh and bone every moment—
she shaved her head, cast off husbands,
cast off criticism, searched harder for God,
lost her child, lost her hope.
She was the pain felt by thousands,
the truth ignored by millions,
the voice of the screaming unheard,
the voice that will never be silenced.
Diane Elayne Dees is the author of the chapbooks, Coronary Truth (Kelsay Books), The Last Time I Saw You (Finishing Line Press), and The Wild Parrots of Marigny (Querencia Press). Diane, who lives in Covington, Louisiana, also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that delivers news and commentary on women’s professional tennis throughout the world.
