It is often impossible to find the words to describe out experiences. Just like they say how a picture is worth a thousand words, I think it is often true that a poem can be worth a thousand feelings. To sum up my experiences while studying and traveling throughout Ireland, here are ten poems to give you a glimpse of these marvelous two weeks.

1. Flight 1946

The red blinking

light on the wing

illuminates the earth

just enough to remind

us that there’s still

a world out there.

The moon takes advantage

of our proximity and

reaches its celestial

hand toward our flight

for a collective grasp

while the waves miles

below join the love

to be sure we coexist—

the water, the sky,

and us foreign souls

all melted together in

a swirl of unending

and tangled beauty.

2. The Vee

Wheat fields and grassy pastures

carpet the earth and the mountains

fence them in just enough to guard

from the world’s corruption but

not too much as to halt the growth

of an unending freedom.

3. Lady Gregory Pub

Voices from

oceans apart

join together for

that one hallelujah

that makes our voices

melt together into

a gooey chorus

of unity and paints

our souls into one

watercolor canvas of

swirled green and orange

And red white and blue.

4. Galway

Foggy folk of buskers

tickles my ears as my

feet brush against the

stone of this vibrant town

and my nose inhales

the mist of beer and laughter

that reminds me there is

so much more under this

diverse and effervescent sun.

5. The Quays

We stand above the wormhole

rooms that seem to never end

and absorb the good vibes as

the music erupts inside

of my chest and fills our veins

with beautiful vibrations.

Its echoes are scooped up

with the sway of our hips and we

soak up the melodic energy while

getting drunk off the dreams of living.

6. Sláinte

That familiar clank

of glass takes me back

to the airport, to your

once foreign eyes which

have become all too familiar

as we drink the smooth liquid

and let it fill our bodies with

collective excitement and pure

yet drunken love for each other.

We allow the dim pub light to

swallow our friendships before

spitting them back up for the whole

room to enjoy as we throw our

glasses together for the hundredth

time and warm our beating hearts

with that sweet sweet taste of

Jameson after yelling the word that

allows us to escape our American

lives and become Irish even if

only for a couple of weeks.

7. Irish Skies

The billions of

brightened burning

clusters of light in

that never-ending sky

overhead connect us to

those billions of souls—

those of people and earth

and everything that burns

with the passion of

this fiery universe

which curves to the

contours of our celestial sky.

8. Kilmainham Gaol

Light-hearted evenings of Guinness

and crisps are interrupted with the

visit to the place where hundreds

were killed and oppressed within

those icy cold stone walls.

The history comes alive as my

arms become overwhelmed with

goosebumps and my heart rate spikes

to the hundreds and the spirits envelop

our bodies with their sorrow and

dreary ends to their lives while locked up

in that prison which haunts the country

of a patriotic, proud, beautiful people

who have risen from the dust to emerge as

an inspiring and beloved independent nation.

9. Dublin Lights

Stars dangle toward

our beating bodies

on strings that lower

slowly yet rapidly into

our small, connected

pupils and the world

outside of this

tiny unending Ireland

ceases to exist.

10. Gaelic Good-Bye

Leaving behind those

misty and fertile lands

filled with cows and

good memories.

Leaving behind the fiddle

in every pub and street

and the laughter of old

forever friends playing

cards at Nellies.

Leaving behind the lively

clouds with ceaseless rains,

and the sunshine grass that

burned our sweater-covered skin.

Leaving behind connected spirits

and greenery which reflected the

brightness and beauty that we

shared in all of our souls as

we danced around Roy’s kitchen

floor and forced sandwiches into

our never-empty bodies.

Leaving behind memories which will

fill our lives with “remember whens.”

Leaving behind Ireland,