gold is the root - between three cold seas
Lough Neagh the Irish and the Atlantic
escarpments crenellate the wide valleys
that were hungry and green - we were frantic
for gold because gold got us the grass
to pasture our biblical flocks and herds;
time proves we never entirely passed
these wet lumps of hills and faith in the word
inside our mountains the ore lay in veins
so why did we sail thousands of miles
and found the province all over again ?
each would have Antrim in sight of the Isles
each live the generational pursuit
of worlds in fire and blood : - gold’s just the root
Ashmolean
Oxford
4 April 2018
Many Australians and New Zealanders are descended from emigrants from Ireland who prospected in the goldfields of those countries. Many Scots Irish Americans took part in the California Goldrush of 1849.
The Irish Protestants and their descendants have had a strong presence in New Zealand politics - from Governor Sir George Grey onwards.
Pronounce Lough Neagh ” lokh nay”.