Monday, 2 September 2013

Day 409: The Wishing Tree

 

Today, Seamus Heaney, file na hÉireann, will be laid to rest in his native Derry.

This poem. I feel, describes the people left behind, who stand agape at his departure, 'turned-up faces where the tree had stood.'


The Wishing Tree - Seamus Heaney

I thought of her as the wishing tree that died
And saw it lifted, root and branch, to heaven,
Trailing a shower of all that had been driven

Need by need by need into its hale
Sap-wood and bark: coin and pin and nail
Came streaming from it like a comet-tail

New-minted and dissolved. I had a vision
Of an airy branch-head rising through damp cloud,
Of turned-up faces where the tree had stood.

1 comment:

  1. This is fantastic! As a fellow blogger and poetry lover I salute your efforts 👍📚Seamus Heaney was such a legendary poet, and this post reminds everyone just how incredible his work is and what a shame it is that he is gone.

    ReplyDelete

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