Borrowed

by Ash Perrie

In fields where emerald dreams once grew,
A tale of strife, a nation true,
Borrowed from another land,
Echoes through the shifting sand.

Brothers’ hearts, now torn and frayed,
In shadows deep, a price was paid,
Flags of hope in tatters lay,
A somber truth they couldn’t sway.

Guns and dreams, they intertwined,
A fractured past, no peace to find,
Sacrifice and sorrow bled,
A legacy in whispers spread.

From distant shores, the echoes came,
A struggle not of Ireland’s name,
Yet still, within each weary heart,
A flare of hope refused to part.

In every sigh, in every tear,
A nations strength, it perseveres,
For in the echoes of the strife
We will never forget your part.

Written as part of Poetry as Commemoration workshops for Transition Years led by Terry McDonagh and Mary Melvin Geoghegan in Castlerea Community School, Roscommon, in  October 2023.