a day out with Aoife (1968)

a day out with Aoife (1968)

 

two ‘Seaside Special’ day returns

to ‘kiss me quick’ and candyfloss,

a ‘pirate cruise’ around the bay

thrown in - no extra cost

 

in the middle of nowhere

a sudden jerk - the guard announced

‘cows loose on the track’

 

Aoife jumped out,

pulling me after,

‘come on, it’s a sign!’

 

she led me down an ancient track-way -

a gothic cathedral of gnarly trees

 

silence reigned until she giggled,

‘don’t you know, this might be Sligo,’

 

then launched through

the soft-jungle hedgerow

in close pursuit

of a bounce of  butterflies

busily cross-stitching the sky

 

I scampered behind

her fluting laughter

 

our feet trod virgin grass

as hand-in-hand

we clambered up

past clumps of gorse

and clawsome hawthorn

 

stepping into soul-cleansing

cliff-top sunlight, overcome, breathless,

Aoife threw herself to the ground

‘I felt like this at my first communion’   

 

far below

a galleon crossed the bay

a skimming speedboat scored the waves

 

Aoife broke the numinence, humming,    

‘My Heart is in the Highlands.’

 

one year before

I’d left my heart in Aberfeldy

when my lover 

chose a better man than me

 

knowing my sadness

Aoife pressed healing lips

to a sun-chapped cheek

 

I wiped away a sad-happy tear

and squeezed her hand

 

‘we'll come here

a lot this summer -

and watch the grass

becoming a path’