This is Episode 68 of Poems for the Speed of Life.

Today's poem is "The Lost Land" by Eavan Boland.

Eavan Boland was an Irish poet who died in 2020 at the age of 75. She taught at Stanford University professor for the last 25 years of her life. 

This poem was written, I believe, soon after she left Ireland for the west coast of America. 

Posted here for the first time on March 17th, 2023, St Patrick’s Day, it is an exploration of two types of grief: the bittersweet grief of seeing children grow up and move on to their own lives, and the grief of saying farewell—of leaving home, or being left behind.

You can read the poem here.

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Music Credit:

Once Upon a Time by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/  | Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com