The Boatman

Oh my boatman, where have you gone?
I looked for you at the ferry
At the place you used to cross
But none was there
It was abandoned, the ferry destroyed.
I asked the other boatmen
If they had seen you; they laughed
“A man of the river gone?
Perhaps he has followed it
Away from thee.”
I searched the battlefield
Picked bloody remains for my treasure
But you were not among the fallen
The buzzards claim you not more than I
I applied to the tents of the healers
To see if plague had consumed you
Many they see, few they remember
They did not know your face
I went down to every graveyard
Afraid to find a headstone
But no plot have I found that will hatch you
The ghosts do not name you there
Oh my boatman! where have you gone?
With you is my heart, with you my joy
Must I weep alone forever?

—On “Fear a' Bhàta”/“The Fields of Ard Skellig” 8/6/21 – 4/30/22