Dedication Poem by Seán O Muiríosa

Tonight the sky is yours.
I dedicate it to you in all its awe.
It’s so colourful, a promise
of things to come perhaps,
or the glory of our brief past.
Summer has flapped her merry
wings towards this August sky
and I remember how we stood
hand in hand under a sky so
similar of orange and violet and
a hint of fading blue in the land
of Gaelic in the distant west.
The birds fly with ease tonight
as if they know what I know.
And they want to praise you.
Towards those momentous
mountains is where they seem
to drift, to the exact place
where the mountaintops silhouette
hug this opulent orange dusk.
This painter's nightfall has
caught my propitious eyes.
The streamish purple clouds
are only too happy to be the
pinnacle of your memory –
almost as if it actually is
the pinnacle – the very end.
Is this earth urging such closure?
I think of you, even though
we are lands apart and I know
that I will not see you again.
So this is it, my dear. Please
watch carefully as I paint
the final picture on the canvas
of our love. Hold your eyes
to our sky as the colour fades
and the sun sinks one last time.
Yes, even the mighty sun needs
closure, even the birds must return
to the nest at night for shelter,
even the leaves must tumble
and fall to be one day reborn.
I think that you are looking
at this sky now, outside of
regular daily monotony
and you can see the picture
which I have painted for you.
Feel the wind caress your cheek
and feel my hand held in yours;
feel the rush as the sun finally sets;
then turn away from your sky
and let go…