Leona Rendsborg

Leona Rendsborg comes sailing in,
To the port, with cargo from afar.
I stand on age-old piers in fog,
And watch it docking over there.
This giant ship from lands unknown,
So graceful in it’s rusted shell.
Reminds me so, that life goes on,
In this precious town, I know so well.

This Monday evening with hazy rain,
Has found me walking through this place.
Along the pier, I walk towards,
The beach where summers I did grace.
Where once I swan to Wendy’s hold,
A youthful soul, just young and blind.
So much back then, I’d yet to learn.
But in those days, I did not mind.

This town a home that I have missed,
Such shame that I cannot let go.
As I walk up the street where once,
I’d be a part of summers flow.
To see the shops, to see the names,
I know each one in detailed touch,
From Hopkins to old Ta Se’s pub,
I walk the land I miss so much.

And further up there lies my past,
The building, which in front I stand.
Where many years I smiled and loved,
In this small place, this Hotel Grand.
No longer though, I visit it,
No longer has it magic good.
It’s but a building made of stone,
And not the castle that once stood.

I shake my head and walk back through,
The street, and up past the Copeland’s Store.
Beyond the doctors alleyway,
And up to proud old Billy Byrne.
The statue standing there in arms,
From when this town was filled with night,
One man stood up and made us proud,
In Seventeen and Ninety-Eight.

I say ‘so long’ and journey up,
To the cliffs where the Black Castle stands,
It’s here where I began this walk,
That led me to these darkened lands.
It’s here where we first graced our eyes,
And had our chats of silence filled.
So many times we did come back,
But none of it was ever real.

So standing, I look out to sea.
I think of all the pain I’ve met.
It’s not this town, it was but me,
But it shall fade lest I forget,
The times in which I find myself,
The tears upon the land I drown.
This little edge of Gods own world,
I hope again will be my town.

In front of hills of rolling green,
I look back over at the docks.
Oh, such a place I’ve never seen,
That ancient hands laid block by block.
As I see Leona leave our shores,
And sail to sees and lands a new.
I sigh, and turn to walk back home,
As lives go on, and so do you.

Written By Shane Ferguson
On The 2nd May 2005