A poem related to current events.
(Image description: A photo of lit tealight candles arranged in the shape of a peace sign against a dark background.) Credit: Photo by Joshua Sukoff on Unsplash
A Prayer For a Harsh World
O Keener,
You Shrieked
Wept
For Your dear
Red-haired child
Torn by manipulation
Struck by Spear
It isn’t the only time You mourn.
War
Earthquakes
Hurricanes
Plague
Your Kings of Oxen, Boars, Sheep
even beyond Éire’s borders
still mourn with You.
Their bellows and cries
are carried in the wind,
piercing, harsh echoes.
In distant lands
Islands, deserts, and mountains
Cities and towns
Manipulation rests at the heart
of these tragedies
bore by those with power and wealth
As it did with
Your cherished son,
his listless head against Your chest
Tear-stained cheeks,
Loose, wild hair
voice hoarse with effort
No sedate Pietà
Grief-stricken
Mary of the Gael
Untamed Juno of the Gael*
heavy with weariness
the world’s woes a weighted shawl
A time of rest and care
clears Your sacred mind,
returns Your song.
Your skill of satire
fueled by Your keening
stirs You to action.
Midwife and Mother,
may You guide us
to a kinder world.
*I found the term Juno of the Gael used in reference to St. Bride in the Carmina Gadelica. I’m aware that there was a tendency to sometimes conflate Scottish and Irish figures with perceived Greek or Roman equivalents in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but I considered the comparison interesting enough to use in the poem.
Source: https://sacred-texts.com/neu/celt/cg1/cg1074.htm
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