Peggy Lynch composed this poem circa 1997 in memory of her husband, Francis, and won the "Leitrim Guardian" Literary Award.

WALLSPOTTING

White washed walls
Of a childhood country,
Complete in their simplicity,
Nestling contentedly
Around thatched cottages,
Symbols of serenity
Gracing the world.

School yard walls
Boundaries on young lives,
Stone spaced seats
for ribboned girls,
Mudsplattered ramparts
Barricading bare-foot boys,
Storming to manhood.

Church yard walls
Sombre and solid,
Gateways to Heaven,
Sanctuary to late comers,
Reluctant worshippers
Cursing long sermons,
Incensed by pipe smoke.

Convent school walls
High forbidding enclosures,
Silent obstacles to freedom
Of walled in boarders,
Circumscribing their lives,
Shielding from intrusion
Of a world beyond.

Railway station walls
Chiselled and cheerless,
Monsters on life's journeys,
Saturated with thoughts of passing prodigals,
Colourless, grey,
As moments of departure.

Bleak factory walls
Crawling into cities,
Barbwired topped
Graffiti clad,
Billboards of the voiceless
Proclaiming freedom,
To heedless masses.

Cut stone walls
Proudly carved and capped,
Lovers of the genuine
Pre-occupied with perfection,
Guarding their territory,
Individual statements
Edifices of affluence.

A rash of new walls
Creeping out of towns,
Products of work schemes
Structured on funds,
Snatches of skill
Of new age masons,
Legacy to landscape.

Invisible walls
Slicing through society,
Safegarding the empowered
Isolating individuals,
Sectarian, sexist,
Walls of injustice,
Walls of shame.

-- Peggy Lynch