WATCHING MY STEP

Cleeves bank runs from Limerick city to Barrington's Pier alongside the majestic river Shannon.The path is named after the once nearby Cleeves factory which used to produce a world famous toffee and other sugary confections. The bank was a favourite haunt of childhood conjuring up dreams and adventures inspired by the great river as well as giving the opportunity to cast a line and discover the delights of fishing from the riverbank for the first time. Later the bank became a leafy route for walking the dog and my mother in her later years daily walked 'Judy' along its path delighting in the natural beauty and peacefulness of the place. Walking along the bank recently brought a tide of memories to mind and caused some reflection of the future and my own mortality, so the poem below. ~GOSh.~

ON CLEEVES BANK

I’ve walked this track as boy and man
Through sunshine days and rain,
And left the path quite reassured
This way I’ll pass again.

But now I take each careful step

As though this one my last,
And gently tread the sacred spot
A blessed noble task.

 

Gerard O'Shea

 

 The view from Cleeves bank