MARGARET GALVIN

Cuan Aingeal, Wexford

Angel Harbour, Wexford

Vigil keeper at Wexford Harbour,

Our Guardian Angel keeps watch 

from the Memorial Garden at Ferrybank.

She presides over the cold surge of the estuary,

recognizes the  signs of distress,

shoes removed on the bridge,

someone climbing the parapet. She listens

for the splash, the sluice of water

as the Slaney closes over the turmoil and carries

off our dead: the elderly men, the young lads,

sometimes a woman.

She’s familiar with the river rescue people,

and the bereaved who tie

wreaths and photographs to the railings.

Every funeral cortege passes her sentry post.

She’s in everyone’s rear view mirror.

Are there days, Angel of Wexford when you have to look away?

Turn your eyes to the Riverbank Hotel across the road

where the brides sip champagne bubbles,

smile for the camera with young husbands, well-groomed

chaps with the world at their feet.

Days when all you want to see

are debutantes in dresses,

new graduates in gowns and mortar boards.

Days when you’d surrender the wings, apply for a desk job?

Margaret Galvin writes poetry and memoir essays. Her most recent collection is Our House, Delirious from Revival Press, Limerick. Her work is often broadcast on 'Sunday Miscellany' on National radio in Ireland. She facilitates writing workshops in cancer care and mental illness.

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