Roundstone, Ireland

I walked the stony beaches of Roundstone, Ireland, and stood under the shadow of the old lighthouse. The salty, icy Atlantic wind blew through to the heart of me. I saw the sun glistening upon lapping water pools by ancient, abandoned stone houses where Irish fisherman lived and died and sustained a generation with the flesh of fresh fish. The surrounding islands still speak of ancient Christian communities whose prayers rose and rise still to shine a rugged pathway through the darkness. And I heard my fathers of old call me to the illumination of that chain of witnesses. Oh, that day in Roundstone—with the call and life of the fisherman and the sea and the sun and the echoes of the old stone houses—and oh, the shining and the shining, and the glory that’s yet to be.

©️Bonnie Saul Wilks

November 20, 2021