(Irish: happiness, joy)
•••
Sonas ort, the Irish say,
happiness on you,
my Irish friend tells me,
and in her lilt, I long for
the voice of my Irish
grandfather, who could
turn on a brogue in an instant.
Would he have known “sonas”?
Of course, he would,
from his mam and pap,
whom he came to call Mom
and Dad after they settled
in Chicago. And I feel my
ears pulling in a long-ago
direction to hear the music
of his voice that died more
than a half century ago,
too young at 64, younger
than I am now. Would that
he were around to explain,
as my young Irish friend does,
that sonas means not only
happiness, but also good
fortune and prosperity.
More important, I learn that
sonas requires a connection
to ancestors, their stories,
the ground they trod,
along with a longing for
that ancestral place.
I try to find calm,
the completeness,
the comfort
and happiness in all
that—even in the sudden
rush of missing him, the first
of four grandparents to die,
the one whose pipe smoke
arrives now and then with
the rustle of breeze through
leaves, the ones brittling now,
the ones soon to fall.
•••
With thanks to Jenny Cox of Clonmel, Ireland,
for telling me about “sonas” in my online writing group,
giving me a prompt that turned into this poem.
Güd wrtr 
Hi Jan. Lovely poem. Reminded me of a quote from Padraig O’Tuama.
“In Irish when you talk about an emotion, you don’t say, ‘I am sad.’ You’d say, ‘Sadness is on me – Ta’ Bron Orm.’ I love that because there’s an implication of not identifying yourself with the emotion fully. I am not sad, it’s just that sadness is on me for a while. Something else will be on me another time, and that’s a good thing to recognize.” -P.O. Tuama
I love this, Susie! Thanks so much for the Padraig quote… he’s so good, isn’t he? I love “sadness is on me” and his good line, “Something else will be on me another time…” So true! Thank you!
Nice remembrance. You look so cute, Jais in your long hair and short dress! Thanks for the “sonas” and thank you and Susie for showing us how words and language make a difference in understanding, attitude and perspective. ~Connie
Thanks, Connie! I always think of that as my awkward time with the headgear and braces, but looking back, there was a quirky cuteness about that girl, wasn’t there? I appreciate your perspective!