From Darkness into Light

 

No matter how important you are, you can still feel alone.

No matter how alone you are, there is always someone

Who feels You are important. Reach out

From Darkness into Light, don’t be afraid.

The bright jerseys gathered, filtering through the shadows.

A poem on loss and on adjustment, and off they went

In a pre dawn chorus of a thousand conversations,

Chirping enthusiasm. The first K was down School Lane,

Across Castleview, into Francis Street, a brightly shining lava flow

That sparkled as it crept, uphill to Monasteroris.

I saw her in the distance, she had come a long way, and then

I remembered.  She too was remembering.

Another struggled with the hill. I understood her determination.

It was she who opened the door the morning

That they found him. The long line lengthened,

Elastic like, the faster ones stretching away from the strugglers.

Breathing made talk difficult, joints ached in effort.

A lone guitar by Ofalia House, a neon sign of Hope projected,

A ballad on the Harbour wall, a troubadour and time for photographs.

The lava stream stretched sparks from Killane to New Row Corner

And to JKL deserted, but for the thousand torchlights.

The morning bird song broke through,

Reluctant at first, and then full throttle.

The Dawn Chorus joined to serenade the weary,

A small child clinging to a determined candle,                                              

An older generation remembering.     

                              

Philip Brady

1 Boyne Meadows Edenderry Co. Offaly

[email protected]

p429