WALLSPOTTING White washed walls Of a childhood country. Complete in their simplicity, Nestling contentedly Around thatched cottages, Symbols of serenity Gracing the world. School yard walls Boundaries on young lives, Stone spaced seats for ribboned girls, Mudsplattered ramparts Barricading bare-foot boys, Storming to manhood. Church yard walls Sombre and solid, Gateways to Heaven, Sanctuary to late comers, Reluctant worshippers Cursing long sermons, Incensed by pipe smoke. Convent school walls High forbidding enclosures, Silent obstacles to freedom Of walled in boarders, Circumscribing their lives, Shielding from intrusion Of a world beyond. Railway station walls Chiselled and cheerless. Monsters on life's journeys, Saturated with thoughts of passing prodigals, Colourless, gray As moments of departure. Bleak factory walls Crawling into cities, Barbwired topped Graffiti clad, Billboards of the voiceless Proclaiming freedom, To heedless masses. Cut stone walls Proudly carved and capped, Lovers of the genuine Pre-occupied with perfection. Guarding their territory, Individual statements Edifices of affluence. A rash of new walls Creeping out of towns, Products of work schemes Structured on funds, Snatches of skill Of new age masons, Legacy to landscape. Invisible walls Slicing through society, Safeguarding the empowered Isolating individuals, Sectarian, sexist, Walls of injustice Walls of shame. -- Peggy Lynch, in memory of husband Francis "Leitrim Guardian" Literary Award ca 1997