©robcullen27112021
…
A premonition of merciful peace has emerged
in the morning of this day.
And as if in agreement
your hand opens to the waves.
In a movement of gratitude,
a moment of quiet acceptance.
I have heard you sing
To the waves crests
Rise, rise from your depths
Rid me of all pain
I am alone wash over me.
….
In this bright early hour
you are at once transformed.
Peace adorns you,
rests on your face.
I have seen you whisper
to the open sky
touch me, cleanse me
rid me of all fear.
I am alone wash over me.
Your hair hangs tangled
stiffly on your eyes,
green-water droplets
trickle to your lips.
Your fingers grasp
the waters edge.
The shoreline pierces you,
Welcomes you, calls to you.
I am alone wash over me.
…
And you lying unseen
a curved silken spine
broken by spite
the savagery of indifference
and the brutality
of unmourned death
move without moving
knowing nothing, knowing nothing
in your quiet sadness.
I am alone wash over me.
…
I have heard you sing
to the waves crests
rise from your depths
rise from your submerged stillness.
I have heard you sing
to the open sky,
touch me, cleanse me,
rid me of all pain,
rid me of all fear.
I am alone wash over me.
Your mother cries for you in her silence
and mourns for another in her isolation.
I am alone wash over me.
…
©robcullen27112021
It seems like a long time since this poem was published in my collection “Uncertain Times” September 2016. Even longer since I wrote this poem in 1980. It is with great sadness that we continue to witness the bodies of drowned people washed up on our shores – the bodies of migrants escaping war, political & religious persecution and the impact of climate change. Peace be with them.
Celfypridd 