The poem celebrates a lady in care in England, a
niece of mine, and Luke Kelly’s remarkable song:
“Scorn not his Simplicity” that deals with the
vulnerable people in our midst.
Fiona
” No way, no way ” no petulant cry
but strength and half-way smile ,
a gentle warning, identity to claim
tho’ vulnerable , extreme.
Who sang that song to pluck the heart,
the soul, of ears that heard a Dublin
gravelled voice explain a plight
while others turn away, their look a wound
to gentle crumpled face.
Fiona’s stare
to middle distance moon.
Overcome she would and knit or stitch
an understanding of her own
in loneliness.
to leave behind
the blind, the deaf, the lame
who cannot hear or see or walk
the path of soul.