By Michael D Higgins.
When will my time come for scenery
And will it be too late?
After all
Decades ago I was never able
To get excited
About filling the lungs with ozone
On Salthill Prom.
And when the strangers
To whom I gave a lift
Spoke to me of the extraordinary
Light in the Western sky;
I often missed its changes.
And, later, when words were required
To intervene at the opening of Art Exhibitions,
It was not the same.
What is this tyranny of head that stifles
The eyes, the senses,
All play on the strings of the heart.
And, if there is a healing,
It is in the depth of a silence,
Whose plumbed depths require
A journey through realms of pain
That must be faced alone.
The hero, setting out,
Will meet an ally at a crucial moment.
But the journey home
Is mostly alone.
When my time comes
I will have made my journey
And through all my senses will explode
The evidence of light
And air and water, fire and earth.
I live for that moment.
Well for Michael D Higgins, his time, well as the 9th President of Ireland, is now!
The irish people showed last minute sense in electing Michael D., who will be a good president. Up to last Monday night, it seemed that Sean Gallagher - an extremely dubious character, but one who was leading the race according to the opinion polls - had succeeded in pulling the wool over the electorate's eyes. Until McGuinness of Sinn Fein (himself a character of extremely questionable background) succeeded in brilliantly ambushing him in a live TV debate with a revelation about the depths of Gallagher's connection to the nasty Fianna Fail practices of collecting anonymous donations from businessmen. There was nothing per se illegal about what Gallagher did - it was his untruthfulness which finally caused him to self-destruct in the eyes of the electorate. Ireland managed to dodge the bullet - and it made for great TV!
ReplyDeleteMichael D. Higgins; a gentleman and a scholar, a poet and a consistent campaigner for human rights, that rarest of things - a professional politician of integrity. In short, a worthy president.
It sounded like Galagher had it in the bad only to be nobbled in the home straight!
ReplyDeleteHiggins should be a credit to Ireland
A poet becomes president. Now that's noble.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll write in Billy Collins on the 2012 U.S. ballot.
It's good to see Gina. Although the Irish President is a figurehead and not an executive leader as the US president is
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to read some good news for a change.
ReplyDeleteMary Robinson, another advocate of human rights, was the commencement speaker at my daughter's graduation from Mount Holyoke College, a woman's liberal arts college.
ReplyDeleteNow she was a fine president Gina.
ReplyDeleteIt is good news indeed Susan/ The role of Irish president is ceremonial but it is a prestigious role
ReplyDeleteI thought her speech was one of the more riveting and meaningful I'd heard at a college graduation. And my radical daughter and her radical friends thought she was pretty good, so she must be okay! ;-) Damn kids, you spend a fortune on their education and they turn into commies! :-)
ReplyDeleteTurn into commies? I would have been proud!
ReplyDeleteLove the poem; very lyrical!!
ReplyDeleteThanks it is a fine poem from a fine man
ReplyDelete