Friday, 6 October 2017

Heart's Eyes Spoken


If I was to begin to discern
How far a heart might expand
I might begin 
To deem it necessary
To trace the banks 
Of mighty river
And embrace 
The "Peace"
That spans its breadth

An Easter Sunday
Procession 
Began in the Bogside
The sky itself
Wept
As our march
Paid hommage
To lives
Cut down
Through tragic
Acts of senseless
Violence
Calls for justice
Still echo
In the wind
Unanswered

Bogside muraled mosaics
Commemorate a struggle 
For Liberation
Brandywell monuments
Of
Those felled 
During it's call
Whom would not 
See it delivered 
Song lyric
Incarnate 
Gasyard .. housing 
Community resources

Chest heaving
Sinew burning
Whilst scaling urban mountains 
To the pinnacles
of Creggan...
A commanding view
The reward of exertion

Ancient Oaks
My very life-blood
Niall of the Nine Hostages
Gives rise 
In subsequent generations
to
Colmcille 
Ancestral inheritance
Unfolds
My soul 
Houses the energy
Of Druidic 
Worship 
and
That of 
Christian crusader
That fashioned
The floor boards
Of his church
From
The sacred forest

Lineages .. mine
From either side
of an ages old
Conflict
A sworn oath
To kill each other
Then
Housed in my heart

Historic walls
House 
Gastro & cultural diversity
Start at "the diamond"
And weave 
An endless array of
Treasured memories

Town square
Children and pets
Providing 
Endless entertainment
While they enjoy
The water display
Guild Hall 
Stunning architecture 
Undergoes endless
Metamorphosis 
With transitioning
Daylight

Epic amphitheatre
Skyline 
Embracing cloud animation
Heart-stirring sunsets
Moon-bathed Foyle 
Reflecting Lunar 
downloads

Mother Gaia's lifeblood
Vital artery 
Transporting vitality
Along its winding path
Also holds 
The mourning energy
And anguish
Of those abbreviated lives
That could not 
Or would not 
Find community

I will always
Hold you 
In my heart 
And pray
That you now 
Know peace

My ancestors
You walked this 
Land
You are this land
My heart 
Was torn asunder 
By your age 
Old 
Conflict
I seek
Peace 
That you will 
Know peace

How then can I go?

I don't think I've ever left.....

R. O'Neill  (Oct. 07, 2017)
  







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