Carrowkeel Passage Tomb

By Ann Marie Dunne

The rushes drip with raindrops,
they sparkle like sapphires.
A twisted hawthorn holds a few haws.
The sheep are so steep,
they look ready to fall.
A skylark shimmies up on its song.

A cairn of grey stones, one of four;
on distant hills, three more.
I touch rocks stacked by who?
Some mighty men heaved these huge stones,
created graves fit for the gods.
Over the lintel, a lightbox,

to catch the magic of sunset in June,
the sun god of solstice lighting the dark.
A grey peregrine scans me as it glides.
All I hear are wing beat of raven,
the bleat of a sheep, wind rustled rushes.
Here I’m in the realm of the gods.

Audio recording of ‘Carrowkeel Passage Tomb’, written and read by Anne Marie Dunne

Ann Marie Dunne

Ann Marie is a mature student who has just finished studying for a BA Hons in Arts & Humanities in Carlow College. She has completed a portfolio of poetry for her dissertation. She lives in Co. Kildare with her partner and two barking mad dogs. During the summer she is a boat skipper in Kilkenny City on the River Nore. Her poems have been published in The Honest Ulsterman, Drawn to the Light, The Martello and the XR Creative Site. She loves books, boats and hiking.

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Photo credit: Olena Shmahalo