Irish Peace Tower

All I Ever Wanted

Irish Peace Tower
Irish Peace Tower dedicated to the soldiers of Ireland who served during the Great War. Irish Peace Park. Messines.
P. Ferguson image, 2016.

Thinking Inside

Simple pleasures…and so it is…a few words…to remind of us of our hope for today.

Rest…rest my eyes…they feel moisture as they feel calm from strain. You will see them again…

Let go of our burden…allow one to carry with you…on this path – this road together…The want grows stronger…let go – give back…We see them, hear them, this day. A simple touch…(we can feel)…the steady rhythm of their heart…(we can hear)…I rest my eyes…

Ulster Tower, Thiepval, France.
Ulster Tower, Thiepval, France. Northern Ireland’s National War Memorial resembles Helen’s Tower, near Bangor.
P. Ferguson image, 2006.

A Few Words from Another

I make my way towards the café for my familiar brew…Americano – double milk…no sugar (no treats – must remember). Days pass without the new…a road I yearn made unavailable by the complexity of the microscopic. Where oh (?) new experience…new air…my unfamiliar familiar? Before the roast a few words from the broadcast…notes in the air…and then a voice…the few words of a lyric I feel akin too…I have found my flight…I have found a beating heart.

Sunken road L'Abre Rond, France.
The sunken road or lane near to L’Abre Rond, Le Cateau, France . When men are too tired to march, they must lie down and fight. General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien, GCB, DSO (26 August 1914).
P. Ferguson image, 2006.

A Scene I See

Time and time again the soldier rests within his position perhaps his lair within a trench or more so, methinks today, alongside a sunken road or lane. Battle to begin…or just ended…perhaps a pause on the front? The soldier thinks this day…all I ever wanted…simple pleasures…the voices and touch of those who make our world…our best of days. The simple pleasures we left for granted now all we ever wanted…the soldier’s eyes rest…we will see them again.

Lifening
Snow Patrol

Lyrics

A hand upon my forehead, the joking and the laugh
Waking up in your arms, a place to call my own

This is all I ever wanted from life, this is all I ever wanted from life
This is all I ever wanted from life

Ireland in the World Cup either North or South
The fan club on the jukebox, the birds and yes the bees

This is all I ever wanted from life, this is all I ever wanted from life
This is all I ever wanted from life

Words of reassurance but only if they’re true
Just some simple kindness, no vengeance from the gods

This is all I ever wanted from life, this is all I ever wanted from life
This is all I ever wanted from life

To share what I’ve been given, some kids eventually
And be for them what I’ve had, a father like my dad

This is all I ever wanted from life, this is all I ever wanted from life
This is all I ever wanted from life

This is all I ever wanted from life, this is all I ever wanted from life
This is all I ever wanted from life

(Sung by Gary Lightbody, Snow Patrol)

For those I know whose ancestry is Bangor.