Abus Coritani Review Spring 2014 vol 6 | Page 29

29 Poetry Fleabus One-Eye He sat upon as ragged stump and gazed upon me with a single mournful eye. Waves of sadness washed across me and I had to struggled not to cry. Small and wizened, with a jug of poteen in his hand, He breathed a long slow sigh, and gestured to the torn and barren land, I looked at all the torn uprooted trees,where once a lovely woodland stood. I shared his pain and horror and I tried to show him that I understood. It seems he'd fallen deep into a drunken sleep within the fairy ring, And then returned to find some comfort and to hear the thrush's sing. “Son of Adam! What foul magic have you done this day?, It's scarce a turning of the moon, that I have been away. They've torn down Gallow's Wood, and now the woodlands low, Do you try to leave my poor, sad spirit with no place to go? It's nigh a thousand years since I have left my native home. And settled in the circle near the Saxon church and swore, I'd no more roam. And from that day, these woodlands, were the only solace I have known, Since my poor heart was broken long ago, when I was young. A thousand years ago I loved a daughter of Mankind, With flaxen hair and deep blue eyes and heart so true and kind. But though I loved her with a passion, clear for all to see, She would not come with me, to Tir Na N'og, beyond the western sea.