THE KNOCKEEN DOLMEN

by

Mary J. Kunert

Light and shadow.
Rock and color.
Life and death.

We walk across the pasture
Picking our way around green cow splatters
Scattered amid the green grass.

Up and over a wood fence
Behind a cover of trees and bushes is
The portal tomb.
A broom bush provides a splash of yellow and green
In front of a stark white capstone perched on three uprights.

How did the ancients do this?
And for God’s sake - Why?
Around the dolmen we walk
And find heaven in a shaded graveyard
Nestled amid old shady trees.
At the edge of the ruins of an old church.
Vivid bluebells light the ground
Providing lush carpet amid the gravestones.

Two ruins side by side, one ancient - one mediaeval.
Is one truer than the other?


Winner of the Joseph Gahagan Memorial Prize at the 2002 Milwaukee Irishfest