A man has died in Erris
Itself is nothing strange
Only it sets my mind a-travelling
Along lonely road and range
Geesala and Dooyork
The road out to the sea
This quiet night so dark and cold
Nobody out but me
And yet the word has travelled
The Internet alive
And messages of condolence
Are sent and they arrive
To tell the people you’re not alone
In this quiet western world
We send our love to all of you
And the man his story told
The land is poor the roads are dark
It is bog land all around
But little houses here and there
Hold a precious sound
The sound of living people
My mother’s native clan
And the power of fellow feeling
For another Irish man
Brian Fahy
17 January 2023
+ A death notice on Midwest Radio told me of someone deceased down Geesala way. I could see the road out to the sea and imagine how deserted it would be on this cold winter night. Then I saw the many messages of condolence that have already accumulated from that Erris community. They know their own and care about their own in a powerful way.
Erris Poetry 