Sudden Words Poem by jim hogg

Sudden words that broke the news,
Like gunshots in the night
Still echo from this granite here
across the silencing of time
No more we'll chase the wily fox
Or yon accursed mako shark,
Shoot chestnuts off the trees
Or break the ebb while it's still dark;

No more we'll raise our voices
'Gainst the clamour of the sea
Watch puffins dive or seagulls wheel,
Or struggle to be free
Or frozen dawns on Creechan's stones
With uncle Paddy Doyle
Or unforgotten friendships
Forged in satisfying toil


On through the froth of words we sailed
Over raging seas beneath
Yet in the light of all our dreams,
How little we bequeathed
Of wisdom and of love, dad,
And how much did we betray?
"But if we care and if we try,
That's what matters" you once said

The bitter mists of selfishness,
The blindness of ambition
Both taint this transitory stay
And haunt our puny vision
But now the trail is vanishing
The view is growing clear
Though trapped, like me, by time and place,
Your intentions were sincere.


From poaching through Ringuinea,
To the pride of the Green Beret
From the Rock beneath the Ravens,
To dreams come true some day
From this gentle hill you're lying in,
To the crags where eagles soar
Although my eyes are open wide,
Your like I'll see no more.


(chorus)

Images that still shake us,
Memories that still bind us
Stories that still take us
Where only blood can find us
Though the world you knew is fading fast
And nothing stays the same
Old friends fall but our sons and daughters'
Hopes and dreams remain.


2006