Thank you for posting that lovely poem. A few years ago I brought back,
to the United States, dirt from England and Ireland to place on my
ancestors graves. They are buried in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I
often wondered if they had wanted to buried in their own native land and
then I wrote this poem:
AN IMMIGRANT ANCESTORS PRAYER
I always missed my native land
I always longed to see
The green fields, the clouds above my head
But it's too late for me
T'was all I ever dreamed of
While dying in my bed
To sleep forever in my grave
Native soil above my head
Go home for me, go home for me
Go far across the sea
Tis you that must bring back some earth
And place it over me
T'was all I ever wished for
But now that I have died
I'll wait and when you bring it back
At peace I'll finally lie
To lay beneath my native land
Is all I ask for me
My spirit will rest easy
My soul will finally flee
When you've done this noble deed
You'll see, and then you'll say
I now know why he loved that land
Until his final day
Go home for me, go home for me
Go far across thre sea
Honor this last wish of mine
And I will pray for thee
Copywright: Linda Egan Flynn
Published; "The Irish Times" March 1996