Poems by Ceó Ruaírc
Archives: by Issue | by Author Name
To Fall Again
by Ceó Ruaírc
From Canary Spring 2019
Ceó lives along the shores of Discovery Passage, British Columbia, where unnamed creeks meander through rainforest down to the Pacific Ocean. Bald Eagles nest nearby, as do Belted Kingfishers, Pileated Woodpeckers, and Northern Pygmy Owls. A great diversity of wild neighbours includes Cougar and Black Bear, Roosevelt Elk, Humpback Whales, Pacific Tree Frogs and Rough-skinned Newts.
Sentimental to say how much this land
is part of me, nourished, a wisdom
a balance of burgeoning growth
with just the right amount of decay
where carcass of Deer beyond stench
of death becomes a calcified sculpture
blade and curve amid Oxeye Daisies
barely a trace of what has come before
what we hope will come again
sentimental I know to mention
pathways lined with Cottonwoods so old
I could crawl onto their limbs, become drunk
in their resinous fragrance
were they not so very fragile
on the brink of falling
how I have already fallen for these wild storms
with their dancing trees, uncertain skies
Kingfisher’s rapid-fire call and the sweet
sweet song of Pacific Wren
how else to say how shocked to hear
destruction approach the place you spend
your bright and numbered days?
how machinery sound of screech and groan
raises up a terror of Ravens, a thunder of Elk!
what words can tell this violence
to the soul of the world and how
how to remain sane?
© Ceó Ruaírc