The Long Acre
A trains stopped, a dead cow on the trackway
And children crying herding more
And I woken from my reverie
I enjoyed while traveling before
The train stopped at the accident in Preševo
As we all peered out to see
The cause – thank God only a cow is dead
Said the people next to me
And as I watched them get smaller in the distance
Children before their time to adults grow
I thought of my mother, her cattle grazing the long acre
Outside of Ballinalee so long ago.
Different times, different lands, yet the same
Similar fears, needs, ambitions through the years
Three or more children, doing adults work before their time
Little adults shedding childish tears.