Quenching the Snake
I stood atop the mount,
I watched the blazing snake consume,
And I realised that this was my land.
At first I thought I stood alone,
But then I knew she sat beside me,
Pondering the razing of this land.
I asked her how could this be so,
She said these stones were forged in blood,
Pools of blood that wet this land.
Gorging on the sacrifice,
The snake rears up and grins at me,
It knows that man has broke this land.
The Fianna are long since dead,
She sheds a tear, just one of many,
Easter’s soldiers too are mourned.
As iron fades away to rust,
A sad smile plays along my lips,
To hate and love the heart that hates.
She lays a hand upon her harp,
And I at once begin to sing,
These Gaelic lyrics to the land.
I poured my heart into the song,
The rains came down and quenched the snake,
Its death hiss haunts my dreams forever.
I asked her how could this be so,
She smiled, her hand against my cheek,
Those green eyes melting in my soul.
The land, she said, will heal in time,
Still she smiled and I smiled too,
This land is mine, and I, this land’s.
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