The lilting of an ancient breeze
Over rolling heaths and moors
Where sheep graze away their days
And once ago pirates driven back
to places they had bore
Lines of ancient dry stack walls divide and separate
Ancient Celtic castles still abound
In ruins and in decay
Stand tall without a sound
I wander in my mystic dreams
Having never touched a foot
upon the soils of lyres and leprechauns
To trace my family's lineage root
I need to take that journey
To that Celtic nation abroad
That draws me to an emerald island
Peat rich history buried deep In sod
The gathering of a beckoned clan
Invites a listen close and ever near
Of a distant harp and penny whistle
So familiar to my ear.
A lodestone pulls my heart to come
and visit my ancestral home
Where I've never been before
To where I'm meant to be
Yearning never more to roam.
Quotes about Longing
"We are homesick most for the places
we have never known."
Carson McCullers
"There is a space between man's imagination and man's
attainment that may only be traversed
by his longing."
Kahlil Gibran,
Sand and Foam
My Longing grows deep inside
as golden days adorn my shoulders
Hunched over now with aging
And history becomes one with time
And wisdom is tempered with saging.
Erin is calling me in dative tones
To visit my ancient paternal homeland
Spanned over five generations
From Victoria's steamship armada
From Normandy to Waterford
Then on to Woolwich
driven by war and famine
finally sailing on to Canada
An Old Irish Blessing guides me
as I ponder to its call
Lodestone Longing
Oh! to be in Ireland
In the springtime of the year
When green rolls out the fields and hills
And blue sky showing clear
For Patrick is their patron saint
And Gaelic is their people
With music woven into tapestry
And horses chasing steeple
The freshness of the meadows
And roads meandering far
Edged along the barren cliffs
Above the seas relentless roar
When shamrocks burst between rocky crags
amongst the mossy dew
Like good luck charms as talisman
Coming into view
Before I leave my current place
And surrender to it all.
May the road rise up to meet me
May the wind always be at my back.
May the sun shine warm upon my face,
and rains fall soft upon my fields.
And until I meet fair Ireland
May God keep me safe
And hold me in the palm of His hand.
By Wayne Power