The Emerald Epiphany

I watched the Irish shore disappear
as the twinkling beacon
of the lighthouse
slowly vanished.

The world turns on her axis…

Concrete barricades and twisted barbed wire
hide the mysteries of the green Isle.

In the house alone
I heard the mist of gunfire
drifting from the other side
of a bolted door.

In the yard my cousin stood
hanging clothes out to dry.
I felt the pull of thunder
shake the air.

Rocking her tightly,
rain clouds darkened the green
in a yard full of clover.

“Look into me” she said
“and guard your dreams
with no remorse.
I will take you with me in my heart.”

She took a last sigh and slipped away
from this earth clutching wooden clothespins.

In anger I cursed the lucid trail of misery
that moves over the emerald Isle.
The rain came down
as I held her in disbelief.

Weeping with God
pleading
to transcend life back into her
pools of water ran red in the garden.

An epiphany came to live in me
in all the space that burdened a loss,
reminding me of all I have in you
longing to be next to your heart.

The ship slips through these waves,
the spray of mist cold and invigorating
mixing with the bitterness I feel
this reality so surreal.

Wanting, a craving inside
yearning to escape, scratching and clawing
fighting to feel the exterior
of this diamond plated surface.

I want to hold and love you forever
never leaving the boundaries of home again.

Soft fingertips trace the moonlit glow on my face.
I can taste the salty perfumed softness
of your skin in your warm embrace,
slipping into the night under the cover of ecstasy.

A shadow of land in the distant water will bring me
where the sun stretches along bustling docks.
I know the sounds of tugboats
and day ferries will end this ride in the busy channel.

Shine for me my beacon!

I will search for you remembering always,
the true coast lies
where the lighthouse stands
waiting for me.