We weren’t worried
who knows why they come
as they do these memories
out of the blue like magic
like this morning
over the newspaper
the weather map
hatched lines of rain
extending far to the north
from Virginia to Maine then Ireland
then a country road north of Sligo
where an old farmer hitchhiking
steps in front of our car
twenty years ago when we were
just twenty-something ourselves
he gets in uninvited and thanks us
my wife and I for this non-offer of a ride
he has a doctor's appointment
in the next town, surely it's no bother
we think it's charming
part of the Ireland experience
still I crack the window - the smell
a pig farmer I had guessed
in our back seat, well-spoken and polite
father figure to the western world
he wanted to know everything
who we were, how we lived
then he paused and lowered his voice
"is it just the two of yus, then?"
a reference to children
no -- no children, not yet
the farmer, the father figure
leaned forward, touched our shoulders
"ahh, don't yus worry, they'll come!"
I fought back a laugh, we both did
knowing this was a memory
we'd cherish all our lives, and now...
here it is again
falling out of my head
sure as a soft Irish rain
9:31:01 PM  Poems
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