Patrick O'Shea for the last time for now, I will share my thoughts of my last day on the Camino from Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela on 22 May 2019, and a thought on the
Camino Frances from yesterday. To all who I met on the way, thanks for your gift of humanity, the laughter and the sharing.
Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela on 22 May 2019
"The last steps must begin in the cool and quiet of the morning,
Those walkers rising to the realization of the final days dawning,
Slowly the legs will leave the temporary dreaming housing,
As the feet move down the streets, and sound of stick begin again to ring.
A trickle at the start of the so long ago Camino dreamers day,
Will swell into a moving flood as more join along the way,
With the ghosts of past pilgrims jostling for their own space,
No arguments here, only camaraderie on a journey, never a race.
Colors of today like rainbows flowing along through the day,
Colors of the past, simple brown was all those pilgrims could pay,
Yet all walk along, for a sister or a brother, a lost lover, or a son,
And walk together under the sky, under the strong Spanish sun.
Some will now walk lighter, free from any excess dross,
Some will now also walk light, freer from the pain of a loss,
With garlanded memories of wildflowers tangled in their hair,
They now can start to see the importance of why they care.
Sore legs, and strange beds, most blistered at some point on the ways,
There has been understanding and laughter shared through the days,
The present human wave, the thousands of legs, will enter together,
Into the vaunted city of dreams, of San Tiago de Compostela."
Patrick O'Shea
22 May 2019 (date written)
Thoughts on the Camino Frances
"How does one begin to fully articulate the freedom of the Camino, the realized chance once again in life to simply walk away from all the stress and strain,
To do nothing else but put one foot in front of another, and carry on through the day, with perhaps the only thing that can bother being possibly a bit of leg pain,
To then not be involved with all the politics, news, hatreds, horrors, power struggles, absurd politicians, empty and soulless work places, and other useless distractions,
And only hold discussions with yourself over the beauty you are seeing, the birds that are singing, the tiny flowers that catch the eye, the large rocks your foot will shun,
To see someone on the way and with heart full of joy, greet them openly with a "Buen Camino" and to hear it in return, or perhaps a "muchas gracias" to ease the way,
To see the variety of so many others of all ages, and places, all with a will to do what you are also doing, to know that they are also having their wanted Camino on their day.
There is a rediscovery of who one is inside, a loss of consciousness of who one could be, because one is simply being who they are in finally being there,
There is an understanding that seems to pervade the walkers, and acceptance of the possibility of the person who is there, and openness that allows all to care,
Judgements are suspended, not merely amended, because the simple truth is that no one wants to judge the other, it is not relevant in Camino time,
There hearing of so many stories that so many are willing to share, makes one so much more open to those who walk the same path, who walk with you in rhyme,
To hear open honest laughter between the people who were strangers before this road was started upon, and who now can see the friends they have become,
A heart can leap into the world of the Camino, because it is so unique in what it is, there is nothing that can be compared, it is an awareness of loss and being that can simply stun."
Patrick O'Shea
08 June 2109