I am back on the road again,
In the memories of my womb;…
Labouring under a heavy sack,
Contracted footsteps, on my way to school.
Now it looks so narrow;
Or has it just shrunk in my head?
Compressed by the life I’ve lived,
And those dreams I had instead?
The city has seduced the land,
There are factories on the grass;
And the crossroads where the fiddler played,
Is now a tower, of steel and glass.
That granite walled old churchyard,
Has grown so many tombs;
But the gravel pathway looks unchanged;
Although a little worn.
My footsteps there still sound the same,
Haunting echo’s of the past,
Holding coffins on my shoulder;
Muffled bells at funeral Mass.
There I find the Celtic Cross,
Names engraved – I know each face,
Part of me lies buried here,
The proud history of my race.
A soft rain falls on ancient trees;
Then a choir of leaves are heard,
Resounding in this sacred place –
A requiem for the dead.
At once elegiac and magisterial ,for some reason this poem reminded me of the novels of Cormac McCarthy. This is a work that the reader would do well to revisit more than once.
Louis, you honour me with your review….thank you so much (I will admit I had to look up Cormac) but on reading I was aware of some of his work.
It is poignant, lyrical. Beautiful.
Thank youi for reading Vineetha.
rained into the well of memories … bringing the water up .. we too hear the choir of leaves here in this beautiful poem 🙂
Thank you so much Sarala.
Destiny Poets’ International Community of Poets ( ICOP ) are pleased to announce that for April 2015 , the following works have been chosen in the categories of Poem of the Month and Highly Commended . Poem of the Month ..** Ashtavakra – Vineetha Mekkoth **…..In the Category of Highly Commended ( Tabulated alphabetically ) are the following…..** An Bothar (The Road) – John Anthony Fingleton **…..** Dissolve on me – Rashmi Malapur **…..** Fifty Feathers of my Flight – Iulia Gherghei **…..** Fight the Shadows – Neetu Wali **…..** Fireflies of Time – Maaya Dev **…..** Flowers in a pot – Sunil Sharma **…..** Impailed – Elizabeth Hexberg **…..**Memories – Santosh Bakaya **…..** (The) Minion – Nalini Srivastava **…..**Mortgage Your Blood – Tapeshwar Prasad **…..** On Life’s Meaningful Pauses – Witty Fay **…..** Tunes of Ruin – Rehka Moothedoth **…… ICOP CRITIC Award for April goes to..Pramila Khadun & Maaya Dev.