For a bunch of reasons, none of which I'm willing to say more about here, the following words from one of Seamus Heaney's most commented upon poems struck a chord with me today when I chanced upon them….
From the Canton of Expectation
III
What looks the strongest has outlived its term
The future lies with what's affirmed from under,
These things that corroborated us when we dwelt
under the aegis of our stealthy patron,
the guardian angel of passivity,
now sink a fang of menace in my shoulder.
I repeat the word 'stricken' to myself
and stand bareheaded under the banked clouds
edged more and more with brassy thunderlight.
I yearn for hammerblows on clinker plans,
the uncompromised report of driven thole-pins,
to know there is one among us who never swerved
from all his instincts told him was right action,
who stood his ground in the indicative,
whose boat will float when the cloudburst happens.