Ballymagroarty Poem by Liam ó Comáin

Like children
playing
hide and seek
birds respond
to each other
with chirps
in the june air.

A breeze disturbs
the opening leaves
of spindly trees
and the flora of
sub - urban hillsides.

A neighbour's dog
responds to the sound
of a passing bike
the latter unknown
in the days of Marianus.

What history is locked
in these hills
of Ballymagroarty?
the residue of a people
poor and simple
hunters of the deer
and tillers of the soil
witnesses to a ritual
of sun- worship
at nearby Aileach.

A place graced
by the presence
of Colm Cille
prior to his departure
for Iona.

Today a people
as Irish as the heather
on distant mountains
or the ancient walls
of Derry.

Now witnesses to
the all weather pitch
the supermarket
and the indoor
swimming pool...

Upon these thoughts
I reflect as I look at the
clear sky over Ballymac'
in the deanery of Templemore.