Dónall Dempsey (15/07/56 / Curragh Camp, Co. Kildare, Eire.)

"Hi! " said the Ancestors
knocking on my door.

They were late by a couple of
thousand years or more/

"We're no one
that you know

we're from the long long ago! "

They spoke in a voice
made of silence.

"We made you up
(so to speak)

and we just thought we would
come & see you for ourselves! "

One had a singing bird
trapped in her chest

(just like my mother)

an other had an exploding
dandelion heart

(just like the Da) .

Some were pure myth
through & true.

Some untouched by time.

They were made up
of all the bits & pieces

of the "me"
recognised as "I"

So this is how
I had come to be

"Sit down! " I said.

"I'll put on the tea."