Long road and passing places

Easy, smiling warmth
in a ferryman’s greeting
camera primed and ready
for lighthouse and Duart Castle
in the Sound

wind enough to dispatch
cobwebs quickly back to Oban
and memories of the road to
Fionnphort’s being narrow
and a long one

there’ll be passing places
and acknowledgements –
some smiling, some impatient
and in all intent for pressing on
and knowing one wondrous truth

that goads a person on
Yes: at the end of this
long road when one has
lost count of passing places
and greetings lies a vision

set in turquoise that points
to the rich fulfilment of
our lives’ diverse seasons –
here’s the Iona that calls
souls home