Consequences

by Madeleine Shields

Division, separation, all for freedom,
Mothers’ cries echo, wishing to swap lives,
Ancestor buildings burned to the ground,
Bodies surrounded by rubble and dust,
Ár nAthair, look down upon Éire,
We pray for unity and for freedom,
But, in the end, will emerald turn ruby?

Reproduced with kind permission of the author. Written during workshops at Mount Lourdes Grammar School, Enniskillen, Co. Fermanagh, led by James Conor Patterson.

Themes

1916 , 1917 , 1918 , 1919 , 1920 , 1921 , 1922 , 1923 , Civil War , English Language , Fermanagh , Violence , War of Independence , Women , Workshop Poem