She stands before the haycock
Mouth agape
Tongue shy right
Firm hands by her side
Scarf around her head
All dressed in black
A widow of the west
My mammy’s mammy
Nan or
Biddy Carey or
The young girl from Doolough
Who married in
A looker I would say
In her youth
A photo rare says exactly that
And all her children testify to that
Widowed in 1920
What a time!
Eight children round her
Benefits there none
Hard work and devotion
To her own
Saw her through
And kindness in the glen
So she stands before a haycock gold
Red and yellow so the painter shows
Her children
And her children’s children know
This is Nan
In the long ago
Brian Fahy
3 May 2021
Erris Poetry 