It’s a grey day, a soft day
The day we start a journey
The day we face the journey’s end.
A cortège of cows and sheep and hedges
Bids you à Dieu.
Croagh Patrick stands, a resolute triangle,
A beacon, a comfort.
Nestled behind the sacred mound,
My memory of you.
With stones and rocks I find
Where once you knelt to dig,
I build the tiniest inukshuk
To remind you of that other place.
And sit with you under
The churning mandala of color
In the Irish sky.
You in the earth you loved,
Amid the trees you left
To mark your life.
They will line my trail back to you.
The stars in the Clew Bay sky
Assure me you’ll be there,
And always have Croagh Patrick
Waiting
To welcome me home.
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Marie McGrath
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Love Letters Through Time
Context: Grace (Gráinne) Gifford, was a participant in the Irish nationalist struggle against British rule, which led to ‘The Easter Rising’, Easter Monday, 1916 in Dublin, Ireland. She was betrothed to one of the leaders, who were due to be executed the morning after being taken prisoner. Joseph and Grace were married the night before in his prison cell. Joseph (Seosamh Pluinceid)) was one of the leaders of The Rising, a signatory of the Irish Proclamation and, in death, a revered Irish hero. These are my imaginings of ‘her’ final words to him. I include a few words in Irish Gaelic as the movement that led to the rebellion favored speaking Irish, instead of English. I would wager a guess, as they were both poets and writers in the Irish republican movement that she would have chosen to marry her love of country with her love of him in expressing her devotion.
By Marie McGrathExclusive • 11 months ago
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