Cliff's Edge - Inis Mor

A poem from the wild edges

Inis Mor, Ireland. Photo by Melinda Emily Thomas

I am on a pilgrimage in Iceland and Ireland this week and have the great pleasure of returning to Inis Mor, one of the Aran islands off the coast of Galway. The following poem is an excerpt from my book Elements of Being and describes my first visit to this wild, sacred land.

Cliff’s Edge – Inis Mor II

At the top of Dun Aengus
visitors lie on their bellies and 
creep up to cliff’s edge.
There are no guardrails,
just sky and a 330 foot drop to the sea.
 
It would be so easy to jump.
 
I climb higher and find a spot
far enough from the edge to feel 
steady but close enough to dissolve
the boundary between my flesh 
and this primal world.
 
The island is not my home, 
nor do I think it ever has been.
Yet there is deep magic here;
incantations spoken by the ancients,
chanted by monks in beehive huts,
and carried down the bones of those who
call this untamed land home.
Earth is alive with sorrow and joy
Wind whirls
Waves sing
Sky never ends.
 
Wild. Virgin. Free.
 
This is what I claim for myself on the edge 
before turning back and making the long journey home.

Sea thrift growing in rock at Dun Aengus fort Inis Mor, Ireland. Photo by Melinda Emily Thomas

Creative Prompt

It is my firmest belief that we are connected to land; that pieces of ourselves can be found when we open to transformation and dialogue with Earth whether near or far from home.

Today you are invited to consider a place you feel a deep relationship with - either somewhere you’ve traveled to or a location closer to home. As you welcome a few rounds of breath, think about how you feel in the depths of your being when you visit(ed) that place. Then, write, journal, draw, or collage the experience. You might also consider writing an acrostic poem using the place name as your starting point. For instance:

Island in the wild
North Atlantic
I hear sacred
Songs sung by 
Mermaids and monks
Ocean’s deep voice
Reverberating in the rock

Prayer

Spirit of the Earth, your wild nature reveals itself in the diversity of landscape on our beautiful planet. Our lives are an ever unfolding discovery of who we are and how we are connected to you. When we feel stuck, stir up our breath. Move our bodies to lands near or far. Grant us the vision to see and feel with vivid detail the soul of a place and recognize its meeting points within us. With the gift of memory or the gift of presence, we awaken to even richer, authentic, and vibrant depths of our being flowing within and alongside you.

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With much gratitude!

Melinda