Watching our world burn,
you must wonder how we have wandered
so far from your way.
Goddess born of light,
swathed in a cape of sunbeams⎯
you, whose footfalls blossomed
to plant our path with succulent honeysuckle,
gilding every hill in rolling gorse,
raising Duir the mighty oak to teem in humming forests,
to fill with song of thrush,
setting salmon to leap quicksilver over rilling streams—
call us back now to drink from your precious wellspring,
to heal in your temple of light,
to worship again your sacred wilds.

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Originally from the west of Ireland and living in Australia for three decades, Anne Casey is the author of six poetry collections. Her work is widely published internationally, ranking in The Irish Times Most Read. Her recent awards include the American Writers Review Prize, Henry Lawson Prize for Poetry and American Association of Australasian Literary Studies Poetry Prize. She has a PhD in archival poetry and poetics of resistance from the University of Technology Sydney where she teaches creative writing. anne-casey.com @1annecasey

 

Brigid the Bard Supplement Contents

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