Family Portrait

I have always existed,
Microscopically, in one form or another,
With every breath, with each squeeze of my heart,
I have been present.

In Ireland, in Rome, some trace of my being has been vibrant,
Cold and clear, my breath has moved,
Over the Black Forest of Germany,
In England, my blood has pulsed amidst the heather and stone,
Waiting for Union.

My aquatic ancestors performed joyous back flips,
In the deep of a Scottish loch
And water danced,
Off the shores of Donegal Bay.

I have always existed,
My bones were formed by the shells of North Sea crabs,
My hair has grown in the grasses of a Dutch Channel,
The beginnings of my skin are found,
In the bark of an old oak, still growing in central London.

And my tears, my sweat, have crashed ships,
Off the coasts of the Outer Hebrides,
I have been....Always.

July 4, 1994 © 2002