Scribing words to call the music in your soul
Ocean winds blow
Foaming the waters
Lifting wings to hover
Then drop
Skimming the waves
Or diving into darkness
Seeking bounty,
Flesh and feather,
Earth born
But creature of sea and air.
© 2020 Maggie Grimes
The northern fulmar is a seabird seen throughout coastal Ireland. It nests among cliffs in summer but winters at sea. It is a relative of the albatross. My painting is inspired by a photo taken by Liam McNamara of “Ireland From My Lens Photography”. MJG
Greetings my castaway stranger. You wish a story with a happy end tonight? I shall tell you of my world and how I spend each day.
Every morning when the gates of dawn begin to open, I return to the sea. How joyfully the waves welcome my body. How gloriously the newborn sun jewels the laughing sea. The seals greet me by the grotto where I found you. We play and dart through sea caverns and let the waves wash us high and catch us ere we fall.
The dolphins hear our play and soon ask to join. The laughing waves carry us farther out to sea. We explore the forests of the ocean floor. Whirling, darting in sensuous grace, we dance away all thought of time.
Now the great whales join our joyous throng. Powerful and somber, they know the exuberance of the sea. We go far beyond the thought of land. Only the sea and the wind can find us. We dive deep, learning strange secrets harbored long in silence. We speed to the surface leaping high above it. The sea reclaims us with her laughter.
Too soon the day begins to end and I seek my home shores. I leave the sea with the departing sun. Climbing the cliff above the grotto, I bid my farewells. The sun kisses the water with golden promise as the sea spray caresses my face in sweet parting.
Tell me friend, is this story more to your liking? But see the dawn is near and I must go and live my story.
© 2020 Maggie Grimes
The painting is of Clogerhead, Co Lough. It called to me in a photo and I had to paint it. The essay is from my work in progress, “Manannan’s Daughter”. MJG
Winds rise,
A lover’s caress
To passion turning
Waves break,
Tranquil seas heave
Mirrored surface breaking
Mysteries stir,
New morn fresh
Thoughts ancient waking
Thunder roars,
Full moon gleams
The storm breaking
Sea births,
Moon and storm created
Manannan’s mount rising.
© 2020 Maggie Grimes
Of the many magical objects and creatures associated with the Irish sea god Manannan Mac Lir, Aonbarr has to be my favorite. A different kind of sea horse, Aonbarr raced across cresting waves as though they were the smoothest pasture. The ocean and horses, two of my passions. It’s been too long since I could travel to the sea. At least my horse is in the pasture behind the house. MJG
I walked quiet fields alone,
Heard the earth growing
Felt her calling,
Calling me to sow with love
And reap her joy,
The air was heated with her breath,
But I am born of the sea
The peace of earth is not mine,
The sea’s unnamed longing sends me seeking
A quest for islands dreaming in the sun,
The children of the sea my only brothers,
My only home, the sea,
Passion, storm, a sea bird calling.
©2020 Maggie Grimes
The painting of Spanish Point is from a photo by Stephan O’Sullivan. He captures the wild beauty of nature that is always an inspiration. MJG
Adventures daring
She remembers,
Doubt, courage
Old loves holding
She dreams,
Warmth, hope
Drifting cloudlike,
She wanders,
Serene, quiet
Nature refreshing
She heals,
Peace, beauty
A day’s dawning
She sings,
Endings, beginnings.
© 2020 Maggie Grimes
Free spirited, restless, loving, the selkie seems the embodiment of the Celtic soul. I must admit a fondness for the sea mammals since I originally planned to be a marine biologist. MJG.
Breathe, the sea rich air inhaling
Life filling lungs
And heart and soul
Sail, the sea billows surging
Energy lifting prow
And heart and soul
Explore, the sea reaches calling
Unknowns enticing thought
And heart and soul
Listen, the sea dreams singing
Music firing mind
And heart and soul
Brave, the sea tempests taunting
Courage driving endeavors
And heart and soul
Seek, the sea realms freeing
Hope stirring resolve
And heart and soul.
© 2020 Maggie Grimes
Grace O’Malley was a daughter of mac Lir. Although a woman of the sixteenth century, her life seems more fitting for a warrior queen of the ancient Celts. She went to sea as a child, learning the skills of sailing, battle, and command. She faced Elizabeth I as an equal and won her respect. Grace O’Malley was a sea called and sea molded pirate queen. MJG.
She rests
Amidst the marshy grasses
Dreaming
Days plying the island routes
Wind and wave lifting
Lost in time,
She danced
Sea spray lacing her bow
Sailing
Her paint fresh against the waves
Chasing lightly the seals
Her frothy road guiding,
She felt
Her Master’s hand
Guiding
Firm upon the wheel
His voice next to God
Sending deck hands leaping,
She labors
Fishing or cargo and passengers hauling
Serving
Racing rising storm
To best the wind and drowning waves
For home’s sweet calm,
She rests
Amidst the marshy grasses
Dreaming
Days plying the island routes
Battered but harbor safe
Lost in time.
© 2019 Maggie Grimes
The painting and poem are inspired by a photo taken by Liam McNamara. The poet in me saw no defeat in the boat, battered though she was. I wish I could have done greater justice to his photo. MJG
Tonight I am free
Taking flight on night dark wings
No shackles of thought holding me,
The winds call
Awakening the slumbering magic
Stirring the old wildness,
I hear the murmurings
As strange forces whisper
And the sea summons the storm,
Come my children
Come be free with me,
I am drunk with power
Filled with ancient secrets
And dreamed memories,
Sea magic fierce and wild
Magic of forgotten lands
Guided by unknown stars
Loved by one sea,
Wild magic
Living magic
Held by the sea.
©2019 Maggie Grimes
I hear Manannan’s voice calling in calm seas or in storm. It draws me to the ocean in wonder, to study, to play, to learn. It is irresistible. MJG
Palo santo struggling to bloom
In the sun and dry,
The sea surges to fill the grotto
Lacing the ebon lava,
The fur seals greet each stranger
Secure in their pacific home.
© 2019 Maggie Grimes
Because humans were so late to the Galapagos, most of the animals are unafraid of human contact. Unfortunately, the fur seal had been hunted almost to extinction. On land they were very shy but in the water it was a different story. They seemed to enjoy swimming with human companions, inviting games of chase, peer into the face mask, tug the flipper. The sheer exhuberance as the sea washed us into the grotto and out again was breath taking. MJG
Rising to tear the sky
Toothed craters tower
Climbing to touch the sun,
Emptiness in your plains
Barren of all save thought
Necklaced by the emerald sea,
The sun devils laugh
In the searing sky
While an old man broods upon the rock.
© 2019 Maggie Grimes
I was snorkling in the cove by Pinnacle Rock. I noticed that from that angle, it looked like a churchman in full regalia. MJG
celtic singer 