Every Blooming Thing: A Spoken Word Love Letter to Ireland's Everyday Beauty
From the creators of Ireland Is, a new poetic journey blossoms across the country. From train windows to patchwork fields, laughter in family hubs to the silence of four small fields, Every Blooming Thing is a show that asks audiences to look again — at themselves, at their country, and at the ordinary miracles of daily life.
This moving and uplifting spoken word experience is the brainchild of acclaimed poets Colm Keegan and Erin Fornoff, produced by Sofft Productions with the support of LIVE Network. Built around poetry’s power to elevate the everyday, the show features two central works: Keegan’s Springshine and Fornoff’s A Billion Tiny Things — pieces that celebrate life’s quiet joys and human resilience.
Keegan describes Every Blooming Thing as a natural evolution of his 2023 touring show Ireland Is — but also as a necessary departure. "It’s a direct progression and step on from Ireland Is," he explains. "To be honest, I was a bit frustrated after it. After thinking for a long time about the show, I realised that at its heart, my poem Ireland Is was kinda negative. It set up this interrogation of things — and I use the word 'interrogation' on purpose — because we kinda put Ireland in the dock."
While carefully crafted, the tone of Ireland Is invited a kind of criticism Keegan later questioned. "Even now, saying we need to be kinder to Ireland, I can feel a sort of guilt rising inside, as if it’s bad to be content with anything. It’s kinda who we are — we’re never happy! But that’s also what makes us great: this rabid hunger for change and improvement."
That hunger, he admits, comes with its own challenges. "I live right beside a family hub full of homeless families — I was resident in one myself — and there’s an IPAS centre a hundred yards away. These are examples of solutions that just aren’t good enough. But when you dig down, you meet people working in these machines who’ve made helping others their life’s vocation. How do we attack the issue without attacking them?"
This tension between justified anger and compassion became the seed of a new approach. "I really wanted to do something like the Ireland Is roadshow again, especially with Sofft Productions who are brilliant, but make it less about that type of interrogation. I suppose I wanted to say nice things about Ireland, which, to be honest, feels like a hard sell."
But the awe he experiences in daily life affirmed his direction. "I travel this country all the time, every other week I’m in a different county. It’s a truly stunning place, full of amazing people. Sometimes I’m just buzzing along on a train and just gobsmacked with awe."
The emotional pivot of the show arrived unexpectedly. During the Ireland Is tour, audiences were invited to submit their own lines about Ireland. One response stayed with Keegan:
"Ireland, you’re beautiful — take the fucking compliment."
The Kavanagh Thread
The show’s title is drawn from the final couplet of Patrick Kavanagh’s Inniskeen Road: July Evening:
“A road, a mile of kingdom I am king / of bank and stone and every blooming thing.”
"The influence is very light," Keegan says, "mostly just that one phrase — 'every blooming thing.' But it stuck with me. I love the irony in it, how it feels almost passive-aggressive, like, ‘whoop de fucking do, I’m delighted with every blooming thing.’"
Beneath the humour, he sees something elemental. "It’s also very zen, very still — like accepting your lot, your place, your path. And if you zoom out far enough, every blooming thing really is a gift."
Kavanagh’s attention to the granular shaped the show’s philosophy. "To know fully even one field or land is a lifetime’s experience," he quotes. "We want to go deeper, not wider. Celebrate the ordinary — the local, the small, the slow — and find meaning there."
The Wonder Under Our Noses
"Maybe I’m a sucker," Keegan says, "but I think we’re constantly overlooking how good we have it here. We’re so quick to look outside for beauty and inspiration instead of looking inside — or at what’s right around us."
He sees it often in his workshops. "I’ll ask, 'What’s it like here? What’s there to write about?' And people will say, ‘It’s a kip, there’s nothing here.’ But then in writing, they realise they’ve been looking beyond themselves — beyond their families, the love they’re nurtured in, and the unique context they’re speaking from."
To illustrate the point, he reaches for Kafka:
“You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet, still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked — it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet.”
"Sometimes inspiration is right under your nose if you look," Keegan says. "Joy too."
Collaboration and Community
Reuniting with Erin Fornoff, his collaborator on Ireland Is, was a natural step. "I love Erin as a friend, she’s family," Keegan says. "And I also respect her as a poet — she constantly does things that impress me. We don’t always agree — and that’s what makes it better. We keep each other alert."
Each stop on the tour also features guest poets and musicians from the local community. "I started out in a community workshop — one run by Eileen Casey, then another by Dermot Bolger. Both of those artists were where I am now, and they gave me a leg up. Including local voices is about capacity building — offering that same foot in the door to someone else."
"It could be the beginning of a relationship with poetry at a national level," he says, "or maybe someone just comes to the show or workshop, and it sparks something. They think: I could do that. I want to try that. The rising tide lifts all boats."
A Poem in Every Blooming Thing
As Every Blooming Thing travels from town to town, Keegan hopes the show leaves audiences changed.
Though the format may feel new, Keegan says it’s built on tradition. "When it comes to combining music and poetry, most of the great live shows I was involved in when I started were always about different live acts sharing the stage.”
Every Blooming Thing isn’t reinventing the wheel — it's keeping it turning, building on a legacy of shared stages and open doors.
Tour Schedule & Guests
Thursday, 29th May – Droichead Arts Centre, Drogheda
Guest poet: Tom French
Guest musician: Farah ElleFriday, 30th May – Riverbank Arts Centre, Newbridge, Kildare
Guest poet: Liz Quirke
Guest musician: Fiach MoriartyThursday, 5th June – Ramor Arts Centre, Virginia, Cavan
Guest poet: Noel Monaghan
Guest musician: Jinx LennonFriday, 6th June – Backstage Theatre, Longford
Guest poet: Darragh Coady
Guest musician: Dion MercurySaturday, 7th June – Roscommon Arts Centre, Roscommon
Guest poet: Louise G Cole
Guest musician: Bianca Fachel
Stay Connected
To follow Colm Keegan’s work or find out more about Every Blooming Thing, visit:
🌐 www.colmkeeganpoetry.com
📸 Instagram: @colm_keegan
📘 Facebook: Colm Keegan Poet and Writer