Storm on the Island

• 'we are prepared'


  'we' shows a false sense of unity

  Links to political unrest as they are 'prepared' for it
• 'never troubled us'


  Directly links to The Troubles
• In 1966 the government building of Northern Ireland in Belfast was called Stormont which coincides with the first 8 letters of the poem
• 'Forgetting that it pummels your house too'


  Nature of civil war

  No one comes away unscathed
• 'No trees, no natural shelter'


  Nature cannot always protect people
• 'spits like a tame cat turned savage'


  The sudden change of the 'tame cat' shows the savagery of war
• 'Exploding comfortably'


  Oxymoronic phrase

  At the time of writing Ireland was not a comfortable place to live due to the political unrest
• 'bombarded by the empty air'


  Shows the relentless conflict

  Attacked by seemingly nothing
• 'huge nothing that we fear'


  Conflict has been vastly normalized

  No change has happened as a result of the conflict

  Perhaps fighting over nothing

  Futility of conflict
• 'sit tight while wind dives'


  Innocent bystanders waiting for the conflict to just be over