Kieran Hayes

From: me To: ‘black sheep’ 16 June 2022 @ 4.10pm Hi, How’s it going? It was good to talk to you the last day on Zoom. I hope you are feeling a bit better. It was fine that you had your camera off. I was just glad to talk to you and hear how you are doing. I know it’s not easy, and you can’t tell me everything, but it’s good to speak it out or write it down. It can help figure out what you feel and think about things.

From: me To: ‘black sheep’ 12 March 2022 @ 5.25pm Hey, how’s it going? I’ve been thinking of you. Last time we spoke you weren’t in great form. You sounded lonely. I know the past two years have been really crap. You haven’t been able to hang out with people your own age. You were stuck at home. Stuck in your room. Stuck on-line. Now you can see them again, but maybe you’ve lost some confidence and feel some social anxiety. You say your family don’t understand you and think you are just being moody.

I begin this essay with a 10th century riddle and will end it with a 9th century poem, both of which illume the monastic world of the book and of learning, faith, and art in the first millennium in Ireland.