I stood beside my mother
At daddy’s grave
Do you think there is an afterlife? She said
I felt sudden surprise at such a question
Aren’t you the one that taught me
About the dead!
And then I thought fair play
To doubt is fine
Even my mammy is allowed to doubt
Sometime
She who was my source of life and love
Can wonder at the ways of God above
Her final home in Ireland
Felt a shrine
To homeliness and goodness
A glass of wine
She lived beside my sister
Grandsons at her door
She prayed her way to heaven
I am sure
A simple prayer
Joins this world and the next
Be sure to live in this one
Don’t be vexed
My father picked his horses
My mother made the tea
And when he won she kissed him
Are those winnings now for me!
Brian Fahy
10 November 2021
Erris Poetry 