Leaving Ireland, Meeting Snowdonia – 18 September 2024 I finally left Ireland on the 8.00 am ferry this morning and arrived in Wales just before 11.00. I never thought I would be glad to say a final goodbye to such a beautiful country with some of the most decent and kind people anyone could ever want to meet – but I most certainly am glad to be gone from Ireland. The Dublin taxi to the ferry terminal took me through miles of bleak industrial waste land. Here the earth itself has apparently been blasted to the Moon so it could be replaced by the ugliness of industrial warehouses and the facilities that enable busy ports to function. I was surprised that no one asked to see my passport or asked any questions either when I left Dublin or when I arrived in Holyhead. Holyhead was a mirror image of the Dublin Port industrial wasteland, but on a much smaller scale. Then, almost as if a magical switch had been clicked, I was surrounded by the overwhelming beauty of Wales.
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The Colours of Love and Marrying Margaret In case you skimmed over my wedding poem because it was included as part of our Handfasting Ceremony pamphlet, here is a stand alone copy of my poem called The Colours of Love. Here also is a copy of my poem Marrying Margaret. The Colours of Love: John Hankin Margie's dominant colour isn't red, Although her name says she is The Red One. Muted red hues do surround her. The deep ruby in her nails is always there. So too is the glow of her hair, Even if it does need assistance now and then. The slow red burn of her heart can't be denied either. Its gentle shine brings the warmth of a woman incapable of anything but love. Her red colours reflect the reality of who she is. But despite the touches of red Margie's dominant colour isn't red at all. Have you ever noticed the soft hum of the blue that surrounds her? Have you ever noticed the golden yellow envelope she walks Have you ever no
Our Magical Marriage on Thursday 30 July 2009 This is an exact copy of the booklet Maeve prepared for our magical handfasting marriage ceremony that took place immediately after our official legal marriage in Ireland on that wonderful day in July 2009. Apart from my brother Bill, every other person named in the pamphlet cancelled me and Margaret long before Margaret died. Although Maeve created most of what was incorporated into our Handfasting Ceremony, I inserted some words of my own that I wrote just for that day – these were words I everyone to hear me saying out loud. My poem The Colours of Love was both an affirmation of love and a surprise for Margaret. I wrote The Colours of Love in Adelaide specifically for our Handfasting Ceremony and I emailed it to Ireland so it could be incorporated into our ceremony. In the morning before the wedding, I worried that Margaret might look more closely at the Handfasting Ceremony pamphlet prepared by Maeve and see my unannounced inc