Seafarers, and: The Parting Glass

Abstract

Seafarers, and: The Parting Glass V.C. McCabe (bio) Seafarers Some say Saint Brendan traveledfrom Ireland to West Virginialong before Columbus ever set sail.Perhaps that's why the Criel andGrave Creek burial mounds of theAdena bear a ghostly resemblanceto the Neolithic earthen domes ofBrú na Bóinne. The solstice sunkisses Ogham petroglyphs in theTug River Valley on its overseasjourney to the triskel-carved coverstone of Newgrange, soft beams oflight illuminating the passage tombthrough the corbel arch, bouncingbetween bookended emeralds, thegreen-hued mountains and watersof Glen Ferris and Glendalough. [End Page 124] The Parting Glass So fill to me the parting glass Good night and joy be with you all —Traditional In Harper's Ferry, where the townsquare's antiquated shops stillsmoke after desecration by fire,two rivers converge, crowned byBlue Ridge Mountains, crossed bysteel and timber railroad bridges.The Appalachian Trail imbibesthe Potomac panorama beforeits trek into northern wildernessand transatlantic ocean immersionend at the Irish coast, sliding upthe Slieve League cliffs of Donegaland down the Sperrin Mountains ofTyrone to grab a Guinness in anUlster pub, toasting every gloriousmountain climbed between therivers Shenandoah and Shannon. [End Page 125] V.C. McCabe V.C. McCabe is a West Virginia poet, writer, and music journalist whose work has appeared, or is forthcoming, in Poet Lore, Prairie Schooner, Spillway, The Galway Review, Appalachian Journal, The Charleston Gazette-Mail newspaper, and many other journals. She resides with her husband in a book-filled cottage on the bank of Elk River. Her website is vcmccabe.com. Copyright © 2017 Berea College