A poem about place - Mullaghsandall

Standing Stone at Mullaghsandall
 
How many have knelt down
in the absence of narrow
pews to be at one with
a past vaster than
that which we
know?
 
Usurpers grow like fireweed – tall
and vigorous – scattering seeds
needlessly, heralding
names like Sandall,
McQuillan, Ó Gnímh
and Agnew.
 
They will come again to plant
the trees in case it’s worth
believing you, who saw
civilisations
and stars
fall.
 
Will they say that man stood
the stone to standing?

Published by the Community Arts Partnership in 2022, 'Standing Stone at Mullaghsandall' is part of a series poems inspired by the discovery of the Agnew / Ó Gnímh poets (referenced here). These poems, centred around the Larne area, were informed by long walks across the landscape within a five-mile circumference of the town centre, or short drives ten or fifteen miles from home — all places that are personal to me.

The standing stone at Mullaghsandall is also a romantic spot for my protagonist, Stephanie Agnew, in the novel The Secret Diary of Stephanie Agnew, which can be downloaded here.

The Opening of the Fifth and Sixth Seals, from The Apocalypse, Albrecht Dürer, c. 1496–98, Art Institute of Chicago