Memories from childhood provide Cornerstones for Life,
Mouldings for your character, sturdy gimbals for the soul.
The gauges and the benchmarks by which to judge yourself.
Firm anchors on Life’s Ocean when its wildest billows roll.
Depend on them for comfort as the path of life gets rough.
Draw strength whenever storm clouds build and lour.
Enjoying fruits of labour always failed to turn your head,
The creed you learned at Chapel lets you tap a higher power.
Understanding life’s true values like the comfort of a fire.
Distrust of fame and those who seek it, a disregard for pelf.
How your parents stood together to hold the World at bay,
To guard against temptation and protect you from yourself.
Recollections of a family loss, of things not said or done,
Touch your heart with sadness, cause moments of remorse.
The Shades of kindred ethics rein the bridle on your soul,
As the torrent of existence sweeps relentless on its course.
So many tiny moments which can make your spirits sing,
Bramble picking with your mother, playing with a friend.
Yet big or small and not all good, they make you what you are,
Memories from your childhood remain precious till the end.
David Kelly
Dedicated to Phillip and Brenda Kennaugh, Slieau Whallian Farm, St Johns.
Phillip provided the concept, the title and some of the images for this piece. The rest was gleaned over the years sitting in Slieau Whalian farm house kitchen listening to Phillip and Brenda reminisce. One the youngest son of a small tenant farmer, not on the best of land, the other the daughter of a farm worker. Now both are individually and independently “self made, successful people” each in their own right.
There are few enough people to whom I accord respect and this is just a brief glimpse of how they came to be the way they are, their faith and their priorities.
I do not know if the circumstances exist to ‘make ‘em like that’ today.
I suspect they never made all that many anyway!
David Kelly | Poetry & Short Stories 