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| "Ireland" by Emily Soto, fashion photographer |
The stone wall is old, perhaps not as ancient
as the glens of Glengarriff, Cork, but very old.
The path itself winds its way
past patches of snowdrops
and daffodils, past a few Oystercatchers,
harbingers of light in the yawning days ahead.
I can smell the sea but am not up to braving
strong winds, stick to hedgerows' protection
on the way to Church to collect rushes
to fashion Brigid's Cross I'll place upon hearth
for good luck and fertility. Tomorrow
I'll take candles to be blessed.
But for this moment, I bury myself
against noble wall, colonized with ivy
(a mad, victorious battle won long ago),
soak in the deep greens of February,
let it invade my veins, seasonally;
the reds of autumn,
which flushed my cheeks and spirit,
I've absorbed and my veins seek
another infusion of my ancestors
from this venerable, climbing vine.
by Margaret Bednar, February 24, 2019
This is linked with "The Muse #44" written to the image of "Ireland" by Emily Soto.
Also linked with "Poet's United #441"
Invade ... or infuse. Pondering.
19 comments:
Ireland in shades of red instead of green. I like tbis different POV.
This is so lush with imagery, Margaret, just a beautiful write. I love the gathering of rushes, and the taking of candles to be blessed. While I read, I inhabited another time. Just lovely.
Wonderful write, I loved the last stanza.
This is a lovely piece … wonderfully rendered and splendiferous to read.
Your blog looks awesome and intriguing. I shall have to revisit it when I have more time to linger.
Very evocative writing. I like the imagery in this poem.
Like the link with the ancestors. They are always lurking about in the background somewhere:)
Love all the beautiful imagery in this poem Margaret! I especially love the line, "harbingers of light in the yawning days ahead" Simply gorgeous writing!!
How gorgeous! I love the way you paint the scene, detail by detail, and then put yourself in it too.
Thank you for the ramble along the stone wall, Margaret. Having lived in Ireland back in the eighties, I have an affinity for stone walls and the plants and creatures that live in and by them. These lines in particular took my breath away:
‘harbingers of light in the yawning days ahead’
and
‘…I bury myself
against noble wall, colonized with ivy
(a mad, victorious battle won long ago),
soak in the deep greens of February’.
Such gorgeous imagery in this poem, Margaret! "the reds of autumn,
which flushed my cheeks and spirit,"... wow!!
I love the way you find solace in the wall... it made me think of that first sun when you lean against a warm wall and just face the sun.
A Quantum of Solace perhaps?
colonized with ivy... splendid imagery!
wonderful, lush imagery of a place that seems to have stopped in time.
having lived in the city most of my life, it is so refreshing to read your poem.
I luv that humbling opener. When the think of age and aging, we do need to thknk back to those who had been there long before us.
Happy you dropped by my sumie Sunday
Much😊love
The last stanza is beautiful
"the reds of autumn,
which flushed my cheeks and spirit,
I've absorbed and my veins seek
another infusion of my ancestors
from this venerable, climbing vine."
absorbing the blood seeking my ancestry.... LOVE IT!
Oh, I love the thought of infusing ancestors from the vine..Beautiful work!
Love that last stanza Margaret. You created a wonderful story from this photo.
Lovely, Ireland is a place I'd like to visit
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