EDMUND POWER FLYNN, JR.

I'm having a moment
where I remember
that my grandfather
was once a teacher too

I see him in my mind's eye
in a bowler hat
and 19th century mustache
standing with his students
in front of the schoolhouse
in Arichat

And then I am overwhelmed
by the wish
to touch him
to see him in the flesh
to feel his soft hands on my face
and know him in person
for he died in 1949
at the age of 80
nearly thirty years before I was born

and now all that remains
is a stony grave
and six feet of dirt
while not impenetrable
will not give up
the pulsing Irish flesh
I desire to behold
and embrace