In memoriam - John McGahern [died 30 March 2006]

The Journey Home

1 April 2006

Departing the Mater Private at dawn,

Travelling through Longford, Carrick, Mohill,

Foxfield, Fenagh, on to Aughawillan;

Cortege terminus the church on the hill

Each signpost signals an inner landscape,

fossil remains of another journey.

Furniture removed from a dying house;

the Barracks, Cootehall, locked in memory.

 

The congregation within bear witness to a life;

Friends and neighbours, scribes and Pharisees,

seven priests, four sisters and a grieving wife.

Outside one name is whispered through the trees.

At the weighing of the hearts his account

will be well paid. Striking the hardest rock,

he cleared the stagnant water from mountain

to distant sea. He fed the starving stock.

 

Walk once more your Leitrim lanes and byeways

Mother and son, hand in hand, now and always.

 

- Luke Martin

Last Updated: Friday March 30 2007