Native Return

It's been a while since I've read your poetry, but it's nice to return to it. I think the internal rhyme that you've worked into the poem works well with the near-rhyming ends to each line, regardless of whether or not it was intentional.

 It struck me as odd that there's a reference to Israel in here, when the poem is, from what I can gather, about Ireland. It almost makes me do a double-take, but I accepted it at face-value after a few seconds. I guess that's something you could think about, but I'm really just tossing out minutiae for your consideration.

 And, I guess, the meter is interrupted by the second line of the last stanza. I feel like you could work a strong verb into the line that might enhance the ending. In any case, nice to see you and yours again.

AP