DAWN IN INISHTRAHULL The moon shines on the Isle of Inishtrahull, Bejewelling nuptial tinted herring gull, May-fly dancing in the balmy air, And moth returning to its daylight lair. A shoal of herring breaking out at sea Sparkle like hoar-frost on an aspen tree, Spindrift in the shaded rocky cleft, And raised-beach quartz that the ice-ages left. The droning beetles seek the crevassed walls To dive into when hungry lapwing calls; Earwigs, likewise into earthed homes, And red-ants under scarred lichened stones. An otter seeking rest on rock remote Glistens with phosphorescence on his coat The snail Arborum, with his watery glue, And bunch of pearlwort in a crystal dew. The flaming sun ascends o'er Cantyre's Mull, Flings out its arms, day breaks on Inishtrahull! -- D. J. O'SULLIVAN, island light keeper 1925-60, noted naturalist and poet.