By the Side of the Sea

By the Side of the Sea

(For Anto Delahunt, who found his place by the side of the sea)

Peace, solitude, and an ancient stick tapping; Down on the quay, the water still lapping; In the mind’s brightened eye, a trinket you see: The shell that you found by the side of the sea.

And you hear again, closely, the waves in their motion, Your heart like a boat on the breast of the ocean That carries you back to the place you now see: The child and the shell by the side of the sea.

Chorus How simple, how kind that it lasted so long, For you hear through that distance the ocean’s sweet song, Its paint pale and flaking, like old scenery: The song that you found by the side of the sea.

And here comes the train, that runs to Rosslare, As it slows through the town, its whistle will flare, And Wexford will shudder the boards of its quay, For it listens and loves, by the side of the sea.

Your childhood, your treasures, lain hidden so long, Come back to you now in the shell and its song; And you stand at the place where you’ve longed to be On the boards, by the ships that go down to the sea.

Chorus O how long has it stayed at the back of your mind? So patient and still, so faithful and kind; As you stand with that child who is longing to see The Mermaid who sang by the side of the sea.

The Mermaid who sang in the song of the sea.

—© Frank Callery, April 12th, 2017.