AN IRISH FAREWELL by MJ West

 Early morning drizzle

in Dingle Peninsula

gives way

to a faded blue sky

Peering over the cliff,

jagged coastline

looks as if the ocean

has taken an angry bite

out of the land.

Sea winds swoop up

to greet us.

My daughter and I

climb down to shore,

keeping our promise

to scatter my mother’s ashes

in Ireland

Together, we watch

gentle ocean waves rise

in small gray curls,

then subside

into soft, white foam.

Diana settles on a

large, protruding rock

embedded in the surf.

Sea flattens out,

only echoing cries of gulls

circling above,

break the silence.

She leans over

to empty  Mom’s ashes from

a radiant mahogany urn.

A surging wave swells and crashes

over the rock,

soaking her from head to toe.

I smile,

“That’s Mom.”