Split apart by oceans and seas
By airports and those endless
Mundane security check queues
When I’m here, I’m in awe of your
Slow beating natural beauty
Yet, at times, I feel out of place
Among people and good friends
When I’m there, wherever ‘there’ may be,
I grow and adapt
But you’re always inside me
Never leaving, you always guide me
In a way I may never be
Able to explain
There was no plank to walk
I was not forced to leave
However, leaving became the most
Sensible, attractive option
Having tasted what seemed like
Pure electrifying freedom
I gradually felt as if I were
Drifting from the safe mothership
Of Home, sometimes forgetting the
Benefits of breathing…
“Not to fret, it’s in the blood,
in the psyche of me
It has been done before
You’ll see”
What you’ve given me is
Not just the way I speak
But the way I listen
And perceive, the way
To appreciate life and a
“Thanks to bejaysis”
For a gentle breeze
A glorious indefinite return I
Don’t expect too soon,
If ever
So, it’s a ‘Slán go foill’
And a ‘Go raibh maith agat’
From another dreaming heart
Forged in the fires of your
Eternally burning furnace
Dónal O’Brien lives in the Basque Country. He hasn’t become Kurt Cobain. He hasn’t captained his country to a World Cup. He is a teacher and can use a washing machine.
Aloka 