The Barnakyle

It trickled
And burbled along
Stop start sometimes
Like the hop journey of life
A dirt stream
At times
And a wild river
Times more
Flowing strongly
And weakly
Uncared for
But a survivor

Where, as children
We captured
Jars of brickeens
Who then perished
In the stagnant water.
And remember
When Michael Murphy
Got split
When someone threw a rock in
For a splash
And he got hit

But it was our Shannon
Our Seine
With its own innocent majesty
And magic
Industrious
Quietly
Nightly
Daily
Doing its job
Reassuring
Being there
Flowing along
Part of us

Paul Foley is a Limerick-based writer who has had a number of poems published. Married to Lesley, he has three daughters, Ellen, Eimear, and Doireann. Paul has a BA and MBA from Dublin City University and serves on the Munster Council of the GAA.