landscape-photography-ireland — Cong, Connemara. Photo By Anna King

For centuries the ocean has been associated with health and community well-being, and the idea that our waterways hold the key for transformation and renewal still grips our modern-day imagination, especially for those of us living on the West coast of Ireland!

ANAM CARA: SOUL FRIEND

“It was on these western shores,
Anam Cara,
you found my soul
adrift in the stillness
of a waiting tide.

You travelled
the darkling arc of stars
to settle in my dreams —

and now, awake,
I feel you
soften the echo
of tide-worn years
calling across
the water of time.

For a while we walked
beneath the turning skies,
our hearts attuned
to the breath between the waves;
each breath a thread
binding sea to soul.

As far-off waves
stir the winds of change,
the seasons turn
towards the coal black night,
and your presence begins to drift —
leaving only memories
anchored in tide-lit stillness,
flickering
in the soft dawn light.”

— By Anna King

This poem was inspired by my time with the Galway Hooker Restoration Project and by the writings of John O’Donohue. Originally written in 2017, it has shifted and deepened over time, much like the tides and friendships it reflects.

It began as a celebration of discovery — two souls meeting in joy so profound that a friend once read it at their wedding. As the years passed, its meaning softened into a meditation on memory, and on the quiet light that gently endures after loss.