Poets at Tara- the High Priest, the Corner boy, and the Court Jester

In memory of the recent passing of Seamus Heaney, who read that day, so eloquently, at the ancient Hill of Tara, Summer 2010 - from Change in the Wind.

Tara 2010 Copyright Niall OConnor

We came to the Hill of Dreams

to hide out in a church yard

and listen to dreamers

showcase the magic they had weaved

from themselves; for us.

We must have been a strange sight there

amongst the headstones and ancient wood,

for the crows periodically broke into

raucous laughter at our bumbling attempts

to make ourselves understood.

The words of Heaney, Muldoon and others

swirled bravely above the graves, 

but none could release me from the cold embrace, 

of the damp 

that rose from the corpse rich earth below.

I scanned the distance for an understanding

of what my part in all this was, and

afterwords we walk from the Hill in silence

trailing the last of the moment, and feelings, down

to the roadside where commerce began.

There I covered, and watching from a doorway

I saw the chit-chat progress 

of my fellow travelers, quietly putting away

their thoughts, like half eaten sandwiches

in a picnic basket.

Three great knights of the word descended,

and in companionable silence, they went

for coffee, and chocolate cake that was fit

for a Parish priest  . . . at least.

©Niall OConnor

Good Bookshops stocking Change in the Wind:

Fermoy Books, Fermoy, Co.Cork

The Winding Stair (Ormond Quay)

Connolly Books (Temple Bar)

Scribbles (Drumcondra)

Books Upstairs (College Green)

Santry Community Resource Centre