No, Thanks

No, I don’t want to drop over for a meal
       on my way home from work.
No, I’d much prefer you didn’t feel obliged
       to honour me by crashing overnight.
No, I haven’t the slightest curiosity about seeing
       how your attic conversion finally turned out.
No, I’m not the least bit interested to hear
       the low-down on your Florida holiday.
No way am I going to blow a Friday night’s freedom
       just to round out numbers at your dinner table.
No, I’m simply not able for the excitement
       of your school-term coffee mornings.
No, strange though it may seem, your dream kitchen
       holds no fascination whatsoever for me.
No, there’s nothing I’d like less than to get
       together at your product launch reception.
No, I regret I can’t squeeze your brunch into my schedule
       – you’ll be notified should an opening occur.
No, I don’t appear to have received an invitation
       to your barbecue – it must have gone astray.
No, my cellphone was out of range, my e-mail caught a virus,
       I had run out of notepads, parchment, discs, papyrus.
No, you can take No for an answer, without bothering
       your head to pop the question.
No, even Yes means No in my tongue, under my breath:
       No, absolutely not, not a snowball’s chance, not a hope.
 

Exemplary Damages is as fine and varied a collection as its five predecessors. It captures contemporary attitudes towards life, love and God with unfaltering accuracy in styles which range from the richly sensuous to the mercilessly mordant. Whether depicting a group of middle-aged ‘lads’ at tea break or struggling to comprehend the English spoken at an EU seminar, Dennis O’Driscoll’s skill in observation and metaphor succeeds in conveying humour and pathos with an unsentimental robustness.