CONNEMARA,
County Galway, Ireland
by Adelaide B. Shaw
Scarcely populated, an area of lakes and rivers, of melancholy and wonder. A place of mist and fog with rain nearly every day. Lushly green with wet, hummocky ground that never dries up.
peat bogs–
meeting in a pool
runnels of rain
Black-faced sheep with curved horns, the “killer sheep” of Connemara, their rumps and sides splashed with red or blue paint, or both, to identify ownership.
craggy hills
my slow mincing steps
behind the flock
No trees, but an abundance of plants and shrubs which grow to amazing heights: fuchsia, woodbine, hawthorn, rhododendron, ferns and several varieties of thorny plants.
floating fog
the narrow road edged
with clipped shrubs
Short and sturdy Connemara ponies, donkeys and burros work the fields and pull the wagons.
carrots ready
the gray mare and black colt
cease nuzzling
Rising above Lough Pollacappul in the heart of Connemara is Kylemore Abbey, an 1867 castle, now home to the Benedictine order of nuns. Extensive gardens cover six acres, in marked contrast to the wild landscape surrounding them.
flower beds
along a brick path
the rolling mist
peat smoke
from the gardener’s cottage–
turning back
LYNX, June 2011
