This past April we led one of our Writing on the Wild Edges retreats on the beautiful island of Inismor off the coast of Galway. We will be sharing some of the writing which participants gave us permission to share here in the next few weeks. Up next are poems by Lucy Wilson.
(If you’d like to join us, we have our dates open for 2018 – August 26-September 1)
ST. CIARAN’S WELL AND CHURCH
At St. Ciaran’s holy well
my prostrated body stretched
till finger tips
touched holy water.
I brushed my forehead
a baptism of resurrection.
The well green-surrounded:
moss, ferns, wild herbs,
lush broad-leafed grass,
interspersed with sparkling
white daisies,
tangled vines joining rock walls
in mutual support.
Adjacent to all
an ancient church stands
juxtaposed between
etched stone slabs,
pre-Christian and Christian symbols.
Inside a stone altar
beckons me
to kneel and pray.
A side window
opens to the ocean
breath of a faint breeze
murmurs my blessing.
The bird chorus continues
its call and response.
In this sacred space
—time pauses—
I am engulfed in the eternal.
INIS MOR—April 22, 2017
The wild edge is gentle today
a caressing tender breeze,
slow undulation of a blue-grey ocean
stretching to a distant grey coast,
mountains—perhaps the Twelve Bens
looming in the distance,
birdsong blending with all.
“Be still and know…..”
A deep peace sweeps over me—
realization that I am being held
in the arms of God.
Paradise.
—Lucy Wilson
