An Grá

by Colm Breathnach

Baile is ea An Grá
go ngabhann tú thairis ar do thuras.

Ar an mám duit
chíonn tú thíos uait é
le hais le loch sáile –

an caidéal glas
ar an gcrosbhóthar taobh thuas dó,

na páirceanna is na garraithe thart air
i mbarróga na bhfallaí cloch dá bhfáisceadh,

oifig an phoist go mbíonn muintir na háite
istigh ann i mbun gnó is ag cadráil,

an dá thigh tábhairne
ar aghaidh a chéile amach beagnach
go mbíonn ceol i gceann acu oíche Shathairn
is sa cheann eile ar an nDomhnach, do ghnáth.

Áit is ea An Grá
ná fuil ar léarscáileanna turasóirí,

go ngabhann tú thairis ar d’aistear
is a fhágann bolaithe na feamainne id pholláirí.

from Croí agus Carraig published by Coiscéim and Cló Iar-Chonnacht

By kind permission of the author

Love

Love is a town
you go by on your journey.

On a mountain pass
you see it below you
by a sea lough—

the green pump
at the crossroads above it

the fields and gardens around it
clasped in the embrace of stone walls,

the post office where the locals
do business and gossip

the two pubs
almost opposite each other
there’s music on Saturday nights in the one
and in the other most Sundays.

Love is a place
that’s not on tourist maps,

a place you go by on your journey
and that leaves the smell of seaweed in your nostrils.

Translated into English by Colm Breathnach