Revisiting Kilnaboy
Flying into Shannon Airport
I see patchwork
green pastures
of County Clare below
I hope I’ll see Mary Maher
shepherding her cows
up the hill to graze
and Declan and Mary
at their B&B baking
Irish soda bread and setting
the breakfast table. And how rays
of sun come through the colored glass,
to light their dining room.
I’ll take a walk to the Burren.
Make my way to the sacred well
a small spot I used to visit
with my husband. A few coins
are tossed on the ground for miracles.
Statues of saints damaged
by wind and water are rusted and worn.
I will bless myself.
Look for Meadowsweet.
Jean Flanagan is the author of two books of poetry: Ibbetson Street (Garden Street Press) and Black Lightning (Cedar Hill Books). Her work has appeared in numerous publications, including recently in Nixes Mate Review and in the Broken Cord, published by Two Dogs Press. Flanagan teaches in an alternative sentencing program called “Changing Lives Through Literature” and is the Poet Laureate of Arlington, Massachusetts.
Innisfree 42
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