Hush

by A. Conmy

Come through to memory.
Outside the window it is there, you can see it,
You can see it from this bank, a stream of
Dignity.
Window frames the prize — dignity denied,
Reclaimed now innate.
Inside, beneath glass — a different window —
Trinkets from the morass of dirty war

They surely know, inside this hush, their story is laid down.

Reproduced with kind permission of A. Comny, teacher at St. Murdach’s College, Ballina. This poem was composed in a Poetry as Commemoration workshops held at The Jackie Clarke Collection, Mayo, with students from St. Murdach’s College, Ballina, in October 2023.  The workshop was led by writer Martin Dyer.