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⭐️🍀Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona daoibh. 🍀⭐️

Famine Statues of Dublin Ireland ©️ Ron Cogswell​
The Famine Statues, Dublin

Dublin

Wandering the docklands of the river Liffey,

She searches for familiar faces in strangers.

Sunrise burns through fog, a hovering blanket

turned back to rustle the early morning calm.

Dubliners and gadabouts do mingle lazily.

She darts and twirls in her feeble quest.

Then a hushed whisper, a phantom voice calling;

she spins, eyes straining for a familiar face. But alas,

in haste she dizzily trips against the steely guardrail.

The pain of her bruises drips tears from her lashes.

A gusting wind tosses her curls, marring her view.

Where, oh where can they be? A bump and a stumble,

a murmured utterance ‘Oh tá bron orm, tá bron orm!’.

She is sad.

Now she stoops to retrieve her gift package.

Pretty and wrapped in glorious green ribbon.

But passersby indifference gleams upon their shoes

a myriad of shapes and colours reflecting sunlight.

She lies there sobbing, her forlorn face in tears.

More bumps and knocks amid the bustle.

This time she is on her knees.

Worse still her gift is jostled and knocked for six

by a stranger’s fleeting steel toe boot.

All scuffed and torn, her precious benefaction

finds restful sanctuary at the well worn bare feet

of bronze cast scrawny Famine statues.

Stark statuesque stares of her ancestors keening,

Agape and staring in mournful monologue,

pleading the age old history of Irish emigrants

Today, the muted cry of mercy still rings true.

Weariness takes hold as she winds her way through,

scattered downcast images of the past abide.

Each plodding step draws her closer

to the reason for her homecoming.

It’s in her blood.

And then, at last, the vision of angelic blue eyes

a child’s face framed by golden curls of fire,

the cuteness of pudgy porcelain white hands,

and the mirrored smile of her mother.

There they stand, her long awaited couplet,

Poet lover and their child.

She has come full circle.

Copyright © JenKress

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Live review by Candice Phelan

Reedsy’s Candice Phelan reviews “Counting Breaths”

I will say that I welcome everyone’s thoughts and interpretations of my writing and also respect their opinions. That is the beauty of an author/reader relationship; the ability to connect on some level and share what that connection meant to you. See, everyone is different and life’s experiences help to make each person an individual. How boring would it be if we all had the same experiences, the same thoughts, the same opinions? While I can’t say that I wasn’t a little disappointed with the lack of ⭐️ offered by the reviewer #CandicePhelan I can say that I am grateful she chose to read and review my new book “Counting Breaths” and offer her thoughts. I can only hope that she does not just set the book aside, but revisits it with an open heart to embrace the beauty of hope, survival and faith of a new day dawning in love. Either way, there is beauty even in the ugly, and I am everlasting proof of that! #jolie-laide #bookreview #writersofinstagram #writingcommunity #poetrycommunity #poetsofinstagram #mentalhealthawareness @reedsy.discovery