Standing above the flow
That washes through history
fields once filled with blood
of victory still haunt the present
Old routes meander as footsteps follow
well trodden paths marching to rhetoric
but here forgiveness lives in uncut meadows
flowing in languid pools of gold reflections
Outsiders see only the beauty of peace
hear only wind and stories of historic brutality
distant fights based on prejudice and power
but history lives on in the words from closed minds
Looking from the old crossing in shadow and sun
decorative construction of lattice peeling
the contemporary white bridge of peace
seems so far away from this valley of the past.
Ciaran Burke
