‘Refuge Resulte’

This new poem (Refuge Resulte) was commissioned by St Canice’s Church, Eglinton to mark the 200th anniversary of the building of their new church. Read at a public lecture in the church on 17th May 2022.

The video on the right has an interview with Sam Burnside before the poem is read.

REFUGE RESULTE
(Saint Canice’s Church, Eglinton, 1822-2022)

A storm arrives, hustling low, flattening
The crops, turning grass to hay; hedges shudder,
Crows rise and fall, black-nebs ploughshare the skies.
A bush top’s thorns pierce low lying clouds’ bellies.
Hammer and chisel-dressed, the stone walls rise.
Rainwater plumets, polishing the black-slated roof,
A carpenter saws, planes and nails planked wood.
Wild winds harry in and out empty windows

Twilight moves on sills, shadows cling to walls,
They dither, slither, dance side-by-side, mesmeric,
While some, reflecting on broke stone, break bread.
One shuts tight the house as day and night melt. The bell’s voice fades. The nave in shades is dressed.
In quiet unity, in reverie, we are caressed.

Coda
Gnat’s teeth and pierced wound are now long gone,
Giving voice to the thought that peace and pain are one.