Rocks and Reefs of the Human Sea | Seattle Irish Photographer | Evidence of Life Photography
In honor of St. Patrick's Day today, I want to share one of my new favorite quotes about the Irish as a people. It's from the novel The Plover by Brian Doyle. A book about a man of Irish decent who decides to pack up one day and sail his little boat off the coast of Oregon and straight out into the Pacific Ocean. It's a beautiful read.
“The poor Irish. Brilliant idiots. Charming fools. Engaging boneheads. Enthralling nutcases. Entrancing charlatans. Alluring disasters. We are the rocks and reefs of the human sea, tumultuous outcrops, magnets for wrecks. The peaks of mountains you cannot see... Stony and defiant of the prevailing currents until we are eventually worn down and dissolved. Sometimes soaked and sometimes dry as a bone. Hammered by tides and grimly standing our ground against the pounding... The poor Irish. An island people... A muddy rock soaked by rain and tide and blood. From which we fled for the farthest shore. We leave, we left, we have been left. Into the waters of the world. Each of us an island.” – Brian Doyle, The Plover
Comments
Post a Comment