The journey home from work a week ago was filled with more colour and light than expected over Musee du Louvre and Pont des Arts…
All Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
Sky
BLUE
And there, by the winding road, it watched
and there, by the rushing waters, it took anchor
and there, neath commuting clouds, it found no freedom,
her song; locked to the land
waiting as the tides retreated
wailing as the breeze bolted
out onwards and over
always and forever
while there, by the winding road, by the edge of the baying blues
her song;
bound to the shore
unlike the tide
unlike the tempest
unlike the sands of time
blue said the sea
not I said the sky
nor I said the clouds
nor I said the sand
but I sang the song
there on the shore
her song forever tied
forever more…
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
Photograph taken in Skerries, Co. Dublin, Ireland
ONLY A MOMENT
I see you
all around me
I see you
in the sky
above me
I see you
in the water
below me
and in the sea
I see the sky
and in its reflection
I see your connection
and I am nowhere
and we are nowhere in sight
between the sea and the sky
we are the blink of an eye
we are the blink already blunk
we are not the sea
we are not the sky
we can sail the sea
but can’t comprehend its depth
we can fly through the sky
but can’t comprehend its infinity
I see you all around me
and you are endless
and we are just fish
stuck in the stream
caught on your current
and we are just birds
blown on your breeze
for but a moment
we are but a moment
but when we smile
that moment is everything
like the river when it finds the sea
like the star when it lights the sky
All Words and Photographs by Damien B. Donnelly
Audio version available on Soundcloud:
FLYING IN AIR
I am airborne,
Life is being lived
Beneath me
Amid the flickering lights,
In the daunting darkness,
Like festive fairies twinkling-
All myth and mystery,
Miles away
Amid mountains
That look like molehills,
Meandering mechanically
In moving motors.
I am now living
In the breath held,
Passing through time,
Pausing,
Passive,
Patient,
Pondering possibilities,
Playing ability
Against probability
Wondering where I will rest
One day, that day
When wings ring out
With weariness
And my feet find their land again
And path to plod along.
I know
What lies beneath,
Have seen the suction
Of the cites
And their seduction,
Have seen the wonder
In the wilderness
Where wolves are wild
And winds are free,
But I am ignorant
Of what rests above,
Up there,
Out of reach,
Far from sight
In the darkening deafness,
Beyond the burnt out stars
And all understanding of existence.
I am airborne,
Live is being
Lived out
Beneath me,
Without me,
And I wonder
Are the souls
Who left me
Long ago
Flying above me?
MH17
I am the morning’s excitement
And the afternoon’s adrenalin,
The suitcase that’s been packed
And the closet that’s been emptied,
I am the silly song
That you heard on the radio
As the taxi whisked you away.
I am all the commotion
And the confusion at the gates
And the skipping couple in the queue,
I’m the oversized baggage
And panicked search for passports,
I am the liquids left in handbags
That you can’t take with you.
I am the last minute shopping
At duty free prices
From beer and wine
To cigarettes and chocolates,
I’m the magazines you bought
To read on the flight,
I’m the books to forget on the beach.
I am the baby that cries
In the buggy in front of you
And the boy that smiles
In the line behind you,
I am the red ribbon worn
On the jacket of the man
Who types on the laptop beside you.
I am the final greeting
As you board the plane,
But I never once believed
I’d be your final step on earth.
I am all the anguish that’s been left in your absence,
All the pain that’s departed you from pleasure,
I am the empty space in the air above,
I am the void that’s impossible to measure.
I am the white balloon set free to fly,
You are now the twinkling stars that fill our sky.
Damien B. Donnelly 