“At the Fishhouses” - Elizabeth Bishop reads her poem Episode 25/30 #NaPodPoMo

From Cork With Love - by Paul O'Mahony · Nov 28, 2025 · 18m

You hear Elizabeth Bishop reading her poem ‘At the Fishhouses” - introduced by Paul O’Mahony. You also hear Paul doing his best to do it justice. #NaPodPoMo

——————

At the Fishhouses

Although it is a cold evening,

down by one of the fishhouses

an old man sits netting,

his net, in the gloaming almost invisible,

a dark purple-brown,

and his shuttle worn and polished.

The air smells so strong of codfish

it makes one’s nose run and one’s eyes water.

The five fishhouses have steeply peaked roofs

and narrow, cleated gangplanks slant up

to storerooms in the gables

for the wheelbarrows to be pushed up…