EAVAN BOLAND STOOD HER GROUND AND CLAIMED HER TERRITORY. HER RIGHT TO BE A POET FOR THIS COUNTRY DID NOT NEED TO BE WON. IT WAS ANCESTRAL AND MADE SWEET BY NOBLE INTENTION. REGARDLESS OF HER SOCIAL-ECONOMIC BACKGROUND, SHE COULD TAKE AN INDIVIDUAL STANCE IN THE PRESENT, APPLYING HONESTY TO ALL THE CONFLICTING ISSUES. IN ONE OF HER POEMS,`THAT THE SCIENCE OF CARTOGRAPHY IS LIMITED', SHE ADDRESSES HERSELF TO ONE OF THE CASUAL LIES, EVOCATIVE BECAUSE IT IS VERY CLOSE TO THE TRUTH-THE LIE BEHIND THE MAP. SHE REMEMBERS STANDING ON AN OVERGROWN FAMINE ROAD, ONE OF THOSE BUILT UNDER THE RELIEF WORKS AND LEFT UNFINISHED, AND COMMENTS THAT, ALTHOUGH THE ROAD IS A PHYSICAL AND HISTORICAL REALITY, THE MAP DOES NOT SHOW IT. EVEN IF IT DID, THE FLAT REPRESENTATION OF THE LANDSCAPE COULD NOT COMMUNICATE THE STORY OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE LIVED IN IT.
MY FEELING OF INADEQUACY, IN RETROSPECT, WAS EXACTLY THE TOOL I NEEDED IN ORDER TO LOOK AT THE FAMINE PERIOD. IT WAS A DIRECT LEGACY OF IT. AT THE TIME MY DILEMMA ENDED IN THIS LOGIC: THAT I WAS IRISH- HOWEVER INADEQUATELY OR IMPURELY-AND THAT I UNDERSTOOD OTHER TYPES OF HUNGER, SUCH AS LONELINESS, HOPELESSNESS, LOSS OF FAITH, DESIRE. THAT I WALKED THE SOIL, THAT MY ANCESTORS HAD ALSO WALKED THE GROUND OF THIS COUNTRY AS THEIR BASIC SUPPORT. THE OBJECTIVE FACTS OF THE FAMINE COULD BE READ IN A DEWFALL OF HISTORY BOOKS, BUT THE EMOTIONAL MEMORY MUST RESIDE IN THE EARTH. I LITERALLY ASKED THE GROUND TO BE MY GUIDE, CAME FROM MY OWN CLUMSILY TILLED LIFE TO DIVINE THE EARTH FOR SOME OF ITS SECRETS. I BEGAN THE FIRST POEM:
no matter how broken, the ground will transport me.
~Maigread Medbh
County Limerick,
Ireland
~Beannaichte' (4-1-12)
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