Tuur Verheyde
Lore-Lined
This land is layered and lined
In tongues and tales, waves
Breaking upon waves, from
Marshes to meadows, from
Pagan to papist, where do you
Go to pry into your roots?
We have been party to every
Thing, are kin to nearly all
Our neighbours, are tangled
Into every strand. If history
Is what you want, we have
Been friends to foes and
Foes to friends; no one is
Entirely estranged, if one
Goes back far enough.
If meaning is what you seek,
Take what sends its ripples
Into your reveries, but look
To land first and last, for as
Seamus said: ‘We are earth-
Worms of the earth, and all
That has gone through us is
What will be our trace.’
