Poetry Ireland Day

 

Photo:Peter Moore

In celebration of Poetry Ireland Day and in anticipation of the much-awaited arrival of our friends, Lisa and Russ Taylor, from Connecticut, here is a poem from the Other Side of Longing that Lisa and I collaborated on and was published by Arlen House in 2011. 

With the Atlantic as its central metaphor, the collaboration sets out to demonstrate how closely we are  connected with all our family and dear friends on the other side of the ocean. Photo is of the stream at the end of our garden.

When the Time Comes

What of the mountain ablaze beyond our window?

Gorse, burning up the dark, so loud

 we fear its crackle, hear its heat.

It spits out seeds that defy flame,

smuts of furze get washed into the stream’s source

that tumbles down, picking up along the way:

whirligigs, caddis fly larvae,  turf scent

the luteus light of  lesser celandine,

foxglove, that does the heart good just to look at.

It foams by the boundary of our land, so small,

yet there is nothing to stop it from thinking big

from becoming ocean when the time comes.

Rushing under the bridge to a neighbour’s field,

down through bog tannin, it carries into the lake

before it takes itself to the river that flows

around the oarsmen, past the teahouse at Menlo

under the Salmon Weir bridge,

by the cathedral that still reels in the faithful.

It catches sight of the sea, boats by the Spanish Arch,

lets go of  its name, heads out into the Atlantic, reaches

your coast with the memory of mountain, gorse, fire.

From the Other Side of Longing by Geraldine Mills and Lisa Taylor, Arlen House (2011)

Distributed internationally by Syracuse University Press. Email: supress@syr.edu