Screag An Iolair
copyright 1996 Mary Bertke
There is a place
far up in the mountains of Derryveah
below which spreads the wonder-glory of the land.
Go up to the highest perch,
the Eagle's Nest,
and watch the cascading fountains of the mountain.
See the stones left stark and bare
from a thousand years of rugged winds.
Scant now are the birch and rowan
for which the dwellers of the ring-forts named these mountains.
Smell the sweet scent of decaying brush and thriving bog.
Taste the smoke from the cottage hearths
and the richness of the bog-grass.
Feel the rough rock worn smooth by
the wailing winds and the sobbing rain.
Hear the wind call out in solitude,
ruffling the waters of Ascardin Lough.
Hear the moaning wind
joined by the reeds of pipe and accordion,
the whisper among the rocks and bushes
met with flute and whistle.
Listen as the water pounding on the rocks below
is echoed by the bodhran's beat,
and open your ears to the lonesome oak
as the fiddle plays its solitary splendour.
The banjo plays the river Tor
as it strikes the stone and carries the driftwood,
while the harp sings in the flapping
of the heron's wing, and the water in the rushes.
Look to the hills
and watch the sheep rove a maze of colours,
a thousand tones and textures
hid within the brown and grey.
All the colours of the fire on the hearth,
bedecked with pine and holly,
blaze with life upon the mountain.
See how they survive,
the remnants of a time past knowing,
half-forgotten for their very presence.
From the trees within the peat
to standing stones
to tumbled-down stone houses,
all join to shape a quiet folk
whose voices charm the world.
Go up to the place
where the sky hangs low
and listen to the fox and beaver,
the salmon in the rushy glen.
Hear the raven's caw completed
by the white hare's softest sniff.
Wait in wind and wonder
to touch the memories of the past
and hear the voices of tomorrow
which drift from Willow and wise Alder.
Look up at last
to the cloud-filled sky above
and feel the cry of the eagle.
This poem was written about a youth hostel outside of Crolly, Co. Donegal, Ireland. The general area is home to the members of Altan, Clannad, as well as the Donnells, Lunnys, and the Brennans (ie, Maire and Enya.) Pity the owner was such a twit.