Ireland, Britain; India too
I travel back into the past
Searching, always searching
For another generation to tell a tale
To find ancestry and knowledge too
Many lives have been and passed
To bring me to the here and now
Tailors, farmers, seamstresses
Labourers, tea brokers, soldiers
Factory workers, ladies who lunch
Monied and penniless
Literate, illiterate
Legitimate, illegitimate
Married young, old and middle-aged
Dark hair, red hair and fair
Freckled and short, ruddy and tall
Families split up and stretched out
Around the world to arts and parts
First cousins, seconds, thirds as well
Australia, USA and England seem closer
As technology permit instant contact
Verification and swapping photos
Stories and background info
Tragedy and love stories
Some we can only guess
But isn’t it a dream we all have
That our ancestors were good people
That they loved, laughed, dreamed
That they passed on their humour
Their strength, their determination
To live, to grow, to endure in time and space
And that is how I came to be
Here. Now. Alive.