Whispers

of the island

Stanislava Kyselová

For hundreds of years I have been watching you, your heartbreaking departures and dreams left behind.

I welcomed you when you laid your feet upon my soil looking for shelter. I am free of judgment; all your stories are part of me. Be respectful to what I can offer you - my land and I,

we are not invincible.

And then the wind blew leaves into our faces and that familiar sign of changing seasons led us once again onto the path of fall.

A silent witness of passing time

Galley Head, Co Cork.

When every street suddenly becomes too crowded, every
road unbearably busy,
we instinctively search
for that which we are slowly losing.
The wide open spaces
where our mind can run free, where our lungs can take a breath so deep that
the head feels dizzy, and where
a smell of the real earth brings
us a sense of a re-birth.

Sheep’s Head peninsula, Co Cork

Written into the ragged face of the wind swept coastline, here,
on the edge of the mainland, stripped of a cliché of a forgotten
paradise, the ancient and mythical still oozes through.

Meeting the myth

Owenahincha, Co Cork

No vast deserts of Africa,
no impressive canyons of
America, no gigantic peaks
of Asia. The countryside without
extremes, so peaceful and welcoming - this is the charm
of the Irish landscape.

View over Castletownshend

Rinneen, Co Cork

Breathing the same air, stepping on the same pebbles.
The spider and me, both part
of the same universe.
I admire his web; he is not aware of its beauty, so fragile
and unique, just like dreams.
Imagine that dreams
had a face...

Woven dreams

Castlemaine Harbour, Co Kerry

It doesn’t really matter where
I am in the world; those people
who are to become
an important part of my life, somehow,
we always meet along the way.

Sheeffry Hills, Co Galway

Bring your fortune to a desert and toss the shiny golden
coins everywhere around you.
Then wait for the miracle.

Golden Fields

Robert’s Cove, Co Cork

In terms of my life, I want to live
and enjoy every minute of it.
In terms of our future I want to remember
the Native people of America
and the ”Seventh Generation to come”.

Childhood in the West of Ireland Glengariff, Co Cork

My hands are freezing and my eyes are getting tired from
a constant glaze as I focus on the bright, sparkling surface
of the ocean. Just when I am about to put the camera down,
another strong gust of the wind leans against the water.
I can see its dark base being lifted; it is rising slowly upwards
towards the sky, getting thinner and more transparent with
every inch. Now the sun joins in and dresses up millions of tiny
drops of water in a blinding theatre. Still a little bit of breeze
to scatter a delicate mist of spray through the welcoming
ceremony and then, in the middle of a January morning,
the ocean wave is born.

Moment of glory

Inchydoney, Co Cork

Children are born with a remarkable gift,
they have an intuition to recognise what is right and what is wrong.
With faces full of emotion they give all their hope to a brave
knight who fights for the freedom of a kingdom and who stands
up to the evil dragon. They cheer for the smart boy and girl who
outwit the wicked witch, they have faith in their hero, they are
ready to give a hand when good luck turns away from him.
It is surprising that we believe there is no room and time
in adulthood for fairytales.

Once upon a time

Mullaghmore, Co Sligo

The trees were bent by the constant wind from the ocean,
branches crooked, yet strong, opened wide and steadfast to the
never-ending struggle. As if they knew that there is not much
of shelter a life can offer.

With the wind

Mizen Head drive, Co Cork

As happiness can be found in a single grain of sand,
we’d better look out where we place our feet.

A shell

Long Strand, Co Cork

Rivers of tears to fill the ocean
and an ocean of pain
to wade through;
all of us together on a search
for human dignity.

Tears of time

Castlefreke, Co Cork

By myself I am complete - all I need to live lies within me.
Yet, only you can take me there;
far beyond my little, ordinary dreams.

In the company

Robert’s Cove, Co Cork

With my face against the wind,
I closed my eyes and felt
a soft drizzle;
that unmistakable blend
of smells and moisture
of the woods and mountains
and the seas of the island.

Talks with the ocean

Bawnlahan, Co Cork

A rusty old winch on the steep cliff of the Antrim coast had no written story
for a tourist to remember. Yet, you could picture the hands that clenched the rope
,and it was undoubtedly the hardship
of the past that we could
still sense across the abyss.

Untold story

Kinbane Head, Co Antrim

Look in the mirror and let yourself see the real you.
Dig under the fake layers that have accumulated over time.
Let the light reach the dark, never - touched places within
the soul. What is it you really, truly strive for? What is the
longing you pretend not to hear? What is that dream you are
just too scared, too lazy or too grown up to follow?

In the mirror

Killary Harbour, Co Galway

Like a tear drop rolled away from the eye,
the Lough Doo sleeps deeply between
the steep walls of Galway’s coast.
Here, just out of reach
of the Killary harbour waters,
away from the storms,
one may find an unexpected shelter.

Quiet haven

Doo Lough, Co Galway

The more you get to know yourself and your heart’s cravings,
the more patient you become. You learn not to waste a second
on that which is less important. Yet, for the one that is worth it,
you wait a lifetime.

Waiting for the wave

Inchydoney, Co Cork

The hardest is the time
of saying goodbye.
Then after, when there are
no more tears left
and the heart becomes numb
in a struggle to live,
suddenly I am with you again.
I can see you
standing next to me,
and as I am laughing
at your unbeatable
sarcasm,
you turn around and smile back.
It is then that I can
go on living again,
for I have found you closer
than I have ever
known you were,
I found you as a part of me.

Memories

Connemara, Co Galway

Cork is lively and busy on Monday morning.
I am early; still a few minutes before I will see you walking towards me.
There is a sweet smell of fresh doughnuts in the air,
I am watching the soft, early morning light finding its way
through the narrow streets.
I am so content and peaceful. How did I get here – a thousand
miles from home – to this exact place and minute in time?
How have I known where to turn at the crossroads?

Cork on Monday morning

Cork City, Co Cork

It is easy for an eagle to see beyond the horizon,
no human conditions tie his wings to the ground.
It takes a lot of courage and learning for man to break free
and finally spread his arms for the breathtaking flight.

In the land of an eagle,

Beara Peninsula , Co. Cork

The sun was descending into other lands and as we walked
slowly, letting our hearts follow the one and only path,
the change of the season brought a light breeze.
Like a prayer from distant mountains, we could hear a soft
voice, almost an illusion.
It was the whisper of the island…

Ballyvaughan Bay,

Co Clare

This little book rushed into life as a stream of thoughts
over the period of twenty days in 2005.
My time in Ireland was slowly coming to its end and with the whole of my being I felt a need somehow to embrace and commemorate the treasured, seven years journey.

Thank you, Sonia, for your company on the adventure and also for being
a patient model for this book.

© Stanislava Kyselová 2005

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