I needn’t worry
Everything is here
Water light and warmth
Every day appear
The shop is round the corner
Food in great supply
Whisky if I want it
Here’s mud in your eye
How different from Glencullen
A hundred years ago
When mammy was a little girl
That glen ‘all that I know’
Water came from the river
Light came from the sky
And warmth came from a turf fire
Never allowed to die
Food was in the garden
Vegetables galore
And milk came from the cow
The cow that lived next door
And bread was made upon the hearth
Each day a brand new cake
Her first communion dress from sacking
Her mother had to make
The sowing of potatoes
The saving of the hay
The cutting of the turf sod
The wish for a dry day
All the things they needed
They had themselves to find
It made them resourceful people
Happy bold and kind
Our modern world is easy
Everything at hand
Just to push a button
All at our command
That simpler world I tasted
Won’t ever see again
But I’m grateful for the memory
And for the people of the glen
Brian Fahy
10 January 2022
Erris Poetry 