A soul of stone

My soul is carved
in the Burren’s stone
Where ancient winds
have softly flown
Upon that limestone
grey and bare
A whisper lingers in the air
No velvet earth
no fertile green
But cracks where life
has faintly been
Yet in its crevices
flowers bloom
Defying harshness
defying doom
The rocks endure
the tempest’s cry
Beneath the changeless
brooding sky
Their silence speaks
of battles fought
Of wisdom age and strife
have wrought
Like them
my soul bears marks of time
Of sorrow’s weight
of grief’s climb
But rooted deep
it will not break
A steadfast heart
no storm can shake
Among the stones
the wild things grow
The gentian blue
the hawthorn’s glow
So too within
a quiet grace
A fragile beauty
finds its place
Oh Boireann
teach me how to be
As strong as stone
as wild
as free
For in your rocks
I see my own
A soul of earth
a heart of stone