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Mendocino Room 19

With Ireland stored in blood and bone,

genetic memory shouts, “We’re home.”

They tumble

out of ancient doors

and play along the craggy shores.

Haunting melancholy moans,

skip over shells and rugged stones.

Beneath a pristine sky of blue,

their voices sing “Sweet Déjà Vu.”

Daughter dear while you are here,

Gaelic rhyme shall flood each vein

and place a crown upon your name.

Sun will kiss your Celtic face

and cover secret scares with grace.

Primeval prayers have led me here.

Protection passed down every year.

Communion comes on shifting sand;

from God, to me, to them

and back again.

Find the complete version of

Mendocino Room 19 on pages

3-5 of Macaroni Miracles.

Kathleen Dempsey Burgin

Notes from the Author

With sand in my hair and clam shells at my finger tips, childhood summers played out in Cotuit on Cape Cod. I was transformed into sun worshiper by day, card shark by night and mischief maker-in-training by our hosts, the Irish branch of our family tree. I sometimes long for those days and the way we were “down the Cape,” but with the California coast nearby, I found a suitable surrogate in Mendocino. I’m addicted to the place; yearning for the cliffs and moody weather, counting the days until the next four hour trek can be made; with two dogs, too much luggage and a pocketful of sentimental cravings.

One crisp October day in 2007, we arrived at MacCallum House in the quaint Northern California costal town of Mendocino. I found myself wondering, “Why this sense of homecoming when all that Cotuit and my new substitute have in common is quaint and ocean? Why the insatiable appetite for this enchanting village by the sea?” Then, a theory, one idea, stood up like the rocky bluffs rising from the surf. With only pad and pen in hand I ran toward the ocean, trying to corral unruly thoughts that were quickly multiplying. Along the headlands preserve, I plopped down in a fortress of tall grass and shoulder high wildflowers and began to scribble the first version of Mendocino Room 19.

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- Mark 5:34 (NIV)

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