Local Wexford writer releases poetry collection

A Hollyfort resident has marked an important personal milestone with the publication of his debut poetry collection…

Bert Peskens, who lives in Hollyfort, has released The Weight of What Remains, a contemporary body of work shaped by lived experience and years of reflection. The book is now available worldwide through Amazon.

Several years in the making, the collection traces one man’s journey through war, memory, exile and renewal. Moving from the dust of distant battlefields to the quiet hush of the sea at dusk, the poems travel across continents and decades, charting a path from youth and military service to love, loss, healing and the quiet strength of endurance.

The Weight of What Remains explores themes of war and its lasting echoes, the veteran experience and unseen battles, PTSD, survival and brotherhood, as well as migration, identity and belonging. Nature is a constant and grounding presence throughout, with images of deserts, oceans, stone walls, factories, fields and moonlit waters offering moments of stillness and perspective.

What sets the collection apart is its structure. Each poem is followed by a personal explanation, providing readers with insight into the real life moments behind the words. This reflective approach allows the work to function not only as poetry, but also as a form of memoir in verse.

Now in retirement, Peskens describes the publication as a significant personal achievement. The collection speaks to shared human experience and the weight people carry in different seasons of life. Rather than glorifying conflict, these poems bear witness to it and to what survives afterwards, holding sorrow and beauty in the same breath.

For readers of contemporary and reflective poetry, The Weight of What Remains offers a journey from fracture to resilience and from silence to peace.