Dá sciobfaí ón bhfarraige iad
maidin éigin geimhriúil, de gheit,
ba chailliúint anama a neamhláithreacht;

an fhaid idir mé is íor na spéire
mantach gan a bpúcaí scéirdiúla
ceilte sna stuaiceanna fíochmhara;

mar a bheadh clocha ar mo phaidirín
in eaglais fairsing an nádúir
Dia i bhfolach fé cheobhrán mara;

imeallach, ar mo chuma fhéin
ina dtearmann tríthoiseach
ar thaoide na cinniúna.

***

If, on one wintry morning, by surprise
they were nicked from the sea
their absence akin to a lost soul;

the distance between me and the horizon
gap toothed without their wild ghosts
concealed in fierce slabs of rock;

like stones on my prayer beads
in the vast church of nature
God hidden under sea mist;

marginal, like myself
a three dimensional sanctuary
on the tides of fate.

(Poem and translation by Dairena Ní Chinnéide)