Ar Cnoc Tua

Sunbeams shot low through stonewalls
On delaying spring evenings,
Yellow as butter, I remember,
Beneath V's of sparrows, synchronizing
To something spectacular.
Beyond the horizon of hills from
Where I knew, clouds grew,
Like children, all destined in those
Days to the same superb sky.

I grew up in a forest of fairies,
We christened 'Caill na Síoga',
And a narrow pine-leaf-lined lane
Baptised the Wiley Woods.
Where I picked magic mushrooms
And opened a shop out-back-
A maestro for used stickers
And mud-spattered golf balls
At 50 pence and a bag of charm.

I once toppled from a swinging tyre
And lost my life-for a moment…
Into the white fields of daisies.
Also there were lots of thistles,
I encountered, upon a time,
The fetid, strident city-I once
Thought provocative- where
Women with bags and buggies
Were gauche and dirtily dug.

There were always nurturing dock-leaves
At home- and scores of foul horses
And manure, and dipping sheep
And… there was an orchard.
Where everything was jade and golden-brown
With so much space, and crannies
And worms feasting festering apples
And for the thrill- stray cats and squirrels
Up the trees, beside my father as a boy- hiding.

Thorns from nowhere pronged
My little bare ankles, but in the mist
Of it all, I lost myself there.
And there I was, and there was I.
Until we moved, like a persecution.
My sanctuary, verdant, unbearably lost.
And once, I hunted the orchard
To find myself again,
And I found…This.

^

Biography

Caoilinn Hughes has received a "Western People Literary Award" for her poetry, and is recognized as an "International Poet of Merit." Her poetry has been published in such magazines as: West 47, The SHOp, Poetry Now!, Westword, POW, Ireland's Own, and many more. She has taken part in the Irish Poetry Slam Showcase 2001 + 2002, which were held in the Cellar bar, Galway, where she also holds monthly readings. She hopes to pursue a career in drama and literature.