Smooth Getaway Postcard From Irish Cliffs

Salty fresh ocean air permeates my senses. Wind brazes my skin in a fierce sultry fashion. The only sounds are lonesome lapping waves and distant calls from the multitude of native Puffins. These white specks fly gracefully, floating in figure eights. A few come billowing over the northern cliff’s edge, mere feet from where I stand. While others linger near their makeshift nests, tucked along the sharp crags.

Reflections of longing accompany my unfocused gaze into the distance, far away where sea and sky meet. A flood of memories consumes me, one after another, overpowering me into an unmistakable state of melancholy. I feel as though I’m in a purgatorial trance, reliving every pain and every loss and every last word I never could say.

Blinking for the first time in what seems like hours, I wipe away the single tear that escaped my eyes. There’s a powerful force at work here in Ireland, one of great reminiscence and sorrow. Alone I stand at the cliff’s edge, where one strong gust of wind could topple me into a 400 foot dive to the rocky shores.

It’s just before sunset in early April, the chill of winter still thriving in the air and the tumult of tourism still at bay for a little longer. Some families are visible in the distance, above the southern band of cliffs, but are unheard from where I stand. I feel alone in abject solitude, at the mercy of my moody revel. I can’t explain what has come over me, but I’m sure I’m not the first and will not be the last to feel a euphoric onslaught of the past here on this land.

Momentous, sovereign and cruel are three words that I would use to describe the Cliffs of Moher at first sight. Although, judging by mere eye cannot truly capture this powerful landscape. Esoteric and omniscient should be added perhaps. Ancestral forces may or may not have been at work here today. Possibly it’s just time to face what I’ve decisively ignored thus far: deep feelings of perdition with the result of edification.

Brandon Elijah Scott is a travel writer and photographer with over eight years of experience. He is also an adventurer, storyteller, book lover and filmmaker who currently lives in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Check out his work at http://www.eyeandpen.com.