Summer Evening At Holycross Bridge

HolyCross Abbey, Thurles, Co Tipperary on Vimeo [Courtesy G. Willoughby.]

Summer Evening At Holycross Bridge

© Author & Poet Tom Ryan.

The Abbey of the Cross stands sentinel
In the evening summer stillness,
Dumb, splendid witness to a thousand years of time
To such as now in the ease of a May-bush summer.
The cuckoo calling,
Take time lightly
In the midst of summer scents and cherry blossom pink,
As the waters surge by the old stone bridge to the sea.
Laughing summer children tease the fish and wish,
And old men through a purple haze from pipe tobacco
Dream and dream
Of summers close to heaven.
From a quiet place beyond the weir
The river softly sings tranquillity
With its centuries old hymns to creation,
And languid by the old mill wheel – silent and still
Young lovers lose their hearts
To the spell of the evening.
The swallows of the mid summer early
Chatter circle in symphonic joy.
In the sweet, balmy air by the bridge
A girl in a long, wine summer dress,
Whispers to the waters
Words magical.
Fishermen toast their catch
And old ones in the riverbank hostelry,
In the twilight lit by yellow lanterns,
Speak of hurling, horses, hounds and fickle fortune.
On the upland past the walnut grove of the priests,
Engoldened by the evening sun,
Dumb cattle in the lush, green grass lie,
Eyes lost to a far horizon.
White washed cottages of thatch,
By lime and blossom now half hid,
Give out the light of welcome,
And a couple in a boat in a secret cove
Quietly steal the moment.
Enthralled, I bask
In a quiet warm intimacy with all,
For, as in the loveliness
Of a distant summer youth,
I am so happy here.

Ends