Coming Home

Though I am a born townie I always come back from a weekend in the country with some regret. 

So here’s a poem written in my head on the way back from Galway, in an effort to delay the inevitable 

Coming home

When I hit Kinnegad

I image myself moving backwards

and Kinnegad becomes Athlone

and I am crossing the river

that marks the beginning of the West

And the Toll booth at Enfield

becomes the Battle of Aughrim

where General St Ruth lost his head

and the flight of the Wild Geese began

And this high rise metal bridge

marks the place where a lopped tree points

to the county rising field by field

 to Slieve Aughty

And at the turn off for the M50 South

I veer into country lanes and low lying bog,

late night ceili and free blackcurrant juice

hedgerows thick with yarrow and cowslip

and meadow sweet and fraughans

And I know I’m nearly home.

Copyright with Cathy Leonard 2016