Fishermen at Ballyshannon <br />Netted an infant last night <br />Along with the salmon. <br />An illegitimate spawning, <br /> <br />A small one thrown back <br />To the waters. But I'm sure <br />As she stood in the shallows <br />Ducking him tenderly <br /> <br />Till the frozen knobs of her wrists <br />Were dead as the gravel, <br />He was a minnow with hooks <br />Tearing her open. <br /> <br />She waded in under <br />The sign of the cross. <br />He was hauled in with the fish. <br />Now limbo will be <br /> <br />A cold glitter of souls <br />Through some far briny zone. <br />Even Christ's palms, unhealed, <br />Smart and cannot fish there.<br /><br />Seamus Heaney<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/limbo-12/
