Tolan

by Iarla Dunford

The blood furrows a slow stream
Through this cold bog
Or
Is it just me
Who’s growing colder

And from where the elixir of my life
Trickles to the ground
Rises a skull
Hibernia

Although in my youth
The eldest years of my life
And she nears the grave
We shall die together
I’ll be labelled brave.

Reproduced with kind permission of the author. 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.

Themes

1921 , Auxiliaries , Death , English Language , IRA , Mayo , Memory , Michael Tolan , RIC , Violence , War , War of Independence , Workshop Poem