A Serendipitous Poem

Saturday 9 March 2013 - Filed under Writing

Author’s Note: After reviewing a poem about Ireland which was submitted for consideration for Magnets and Ladders Magazine, I created a few lines to show the poet that we needed more information about why she wanted to return to the Emerald Isle. She agreed with my suggestions, and sent a nice poem which we published. Meanwhile, the wheels started turning, and my hints to her lead to my own poem. Enjoy.

If it Starts with an O’
by Marilyn Brandt Smith

O’Ireland, how I loved you,
The summer I was there;
Brought home a doll in woolen clothes,
Green eyes and ginger hair;
A wind-up hand-carved cottage
That tinkled “Galway Bay;”
What trunk or box or closet shelf
Still keeps them safe today?

Your harps, your flutes, your fiddles;
Shady glens and rolling hills;
The fires and hearths and home folk;
Morning walks in sun-drenched fields.
Connemara in your castles;
High spirits at pub and track;
The cheer, green beer, of Saint Patrick’s Day
Do their best to bring it back.

But your music’s my secret passageway,
Though it’s been some forty years,
The lilt, the bounce, keep you alive for me
More than all the souvenirs.

2013-03-09  »  Marilyn Brandt Smith