Seán Walsh: WALKABOUT…

WALKABOUT

I leave the church by the main entrance,

one hand on the railing,

careful on the steps leading down

to a safer level.

The air fresh, balmy – an Autumn day

reluctant to let go of Summer –

as I descend…

 To my right, I glimpse the girls

of Corpus Christi national

at play in their school grounds.

‘Pause a while to listen

to their carefree cries and laughter.

Innocents who know little – care less –

about the world that awaits them.

To my left, the community hall,

ghosted by a thousand yesterdays,

bygone memories…

The main gates, ever welcoming,

unto Homefarm Road… then across

and down to the park where people

saunter, sit, chat by the Tolka,

making the most of the fine spell…

Past the library, the Health clinic…

And so into Millmount Avenue

and the terraced houses

still clinging to a Joycean age…

Now here’s a thing:

through every letter-box

a copy of the parish newsletter

is slotted, ever so often,

  rain, hail or shine,

by some unnamed parishioner.

Sure where would we be –

where would Corpus Christi be! –

without our many selfless volunteers?

Sean Walsh   2023

Corpus Christi Parish

Drumcondra

Dublin 9

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Brendan Hoban offers a reflection on Holy Week.
“Calvary sets in consoling relief the experience of all who suffer – whether the nightmare of physical pain or the emotional trauma of significant loss or the prospect of imminent death. The human Jesus, struggling to come to terms with the reality of his predicament, echoes every human experience of suffering and of loss and reflects the complexity and confusion of emotions that attend all those caught in the slipstream of pain and loss and death.”

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