And this is about the loss of a daughter, not
a death I'm happy to say, but just that moment where
a father realizes that his child is no longer a child.
This is also set in Ireland on a beach on the West Coast
at the end of summer, at the end of a childhood.
Donegal for Ellie, whose birthday is today.
"Ardent on the beach at Rossnowlagh
on the last day of summer, you ran through the shallows
throwing off shoes and shirt and towel like the seasons.
The city's years all caught in my arms
as I plowed on behind you.
Guardian still of dry clothes of this little heart, not quite
13, breasting the waves and calling back to me to join you,
swimming in the Atlantic on the last day of summer.
I saw a man in the shallows with his hands full of clothes,
full of all the years, and his daughter
going where he knew he could not follow."