St. Brendan’s Well, Valentia Island, County Kerry

The Well of Grief

Those who will not slip beneath
the still surface on the well of grief

Turning down through its black water
to the place we cannot breathe

will never know the source from which we drink,
the secret water, cold and clear,

nor find in the darkness glimmering
the small round coins
thrown by those who wished for something else.

–David Whyte (1990)