Peek inside Vol. 55

Lake Affect

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Volume 55 $4.95

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A Thousand Mary Doyles by Sonja Livingston

There she is, Mary Doyle, and another right beside her. Head turned for one last view of land before the Cork coastline slips out of sight. Dishwater strands pushed behind her ears, yellow curls pulled up under her hat, dark frizz flying in the wind. She is seventeen. She is twenty-two. She is just yesterday turned twenty-nine. Look at her now, studying the sky in place of crying, trying to remember what everyone has said, begging Mary-the-most-holy-mother-of-God they might make it across the ocean alive.

She leaves behind her favorite cow and the kitchen garden she’s been fighting for years. She leaves behind her mother’s grave, her sister’s face, and her Uncle Michael’s way with the plow. She leaves behind the traveling priest, the Sunday Masses, and the words to every song she knows, the pretty lament sand, the keening, and Mr. Byrne with the tin whistle, and here it comes now, her father’s hand, swollen and cracked as it is, the way he held it to her father’s hand, soft as old cloth against her cheek. She leaves behind the big house on the hill and the broken buggy leaning against Coughlan’s cottage. Will it oh will it ever get fixed? And the marsh violet and the burnet rose and the blackthorn too sometimes, the patchwork of fields, and the baby Lizzie with her dark eyes and funny ways—what will the little one be like as she grows? And the abbey, of course, what times they had there, the slick moss and cold stone, and her best friend, Birdy, who swears upon her life she will write, but both girls know how these things go, a few long letters at first, the distance between them widening as the

world settles into the spaces made by those who leave, until words are folded less often into envelopes, because if there’s one thing everyone knows, it’s that when someone leaves Ballyhaunis, sure enough, she ’s gone for good.

Mary Doyle. Come from Moycullen from Westmeath and Usher’s Quay. Come from Poulnamuck, Gweesalia, and Tourmakeady. From Clongeen, Collooney, and Cahermacrea. From Kilkelly and Kilmeena, Ballina and Bonniconlon. From Portlaoise, Mountshannon, and Roscommon. From Donoughmore, Dún Laoghaire, and Drogheda. That one there with the reddish hair, the tall one with the overproud back, the one gone flat against the rail, trying her best to hide the sight of a broken shoe under her trunk, fan of fingers placed on her brow. That one. And that one. Then again that one too. Sailed in 1851. Sailed in 1847. Left from Queenstown in 1869. Doing what she must in order to survive.

See her now, stepping from the gangway, swaying a bit as her feet reach solid land. That’s her there, scanning the crowd for the sight of a familiar face. And here we are. We can’t call out, but we can at least see her, every girl bound for Boston, New York, and the Upper Saint Lawrence. We can’t call out, but we can look for a moment in her direction to see what might be found in her face, for she belongs to all of us, does our girl, Mary Doyle.

This essay appears in Ladies Night at the Dreamland, UGA Press, 2016 and was originally published in Brevity Magazine.

Marilyn M. Belle-Isle, Three Irish Sisters, oil on linen, 2008, 16 x 12 inches www.marilynbelle-isle.com

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CARMEN SCHAEFER Time Passage, 2016, colored pencil, 24” x 32” Permanent collection, Del Mar College, Corpus Christi, Texas

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHELLE MACIRELLA

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Annette Ramos

Executive Director of the Rochester Latino Theatre Companyand Community Connector for Geva Theatre Center

My super power.

When I think of superpowers it brings to mind an ability beyond human capability but it is the everyday abilities that makes a person special. Seeing the talents in every person you meet and our desire to nurture it. My Mama taught me to see the good in everything, even when bad things happen, there is always a lesson to learn. It is everyday simple acts of kindness that guide my actions. I view the world through compassion asking myself the question; “How can I bring joy to this moment?” Many have said my superpower is my endless energy, drive, determination and passionate positivity like the Ever Ready Bunny! And yes, I do sleep.

An event that influenced, informed and/or inspired you.

There have been many significant events in my life but this past year my work life has stretched my learning in new ways—to ride the many adventures of transformation. Life is a process of living authentically in the day to day moments. Breathing and being present is always challenging for a scouting nature like mine, but what I am discovering is essential to living well is learning to simply to sit with yourself and be in good company.

Advice to young women.

My advice today to my many daughters is always surround yourself with woman who inspire you. Women who are authentic and empowered. See their beauty and celebrate it, feel their power and admire it, know their character and learn how to develop your own. Your circle of sisters protect you and when you most need their strength, they will be there for you, but it is the moments when you are there for them, that you become your best self.

My “Shero” and why.

When speaking of Shero’s, my Mother is always at the top of my list as I admire her strength to be the voice for so many who did not have one, but today I want to celebrate a woman who has always supported me even when I didn’t know it. When I first moved to Rochester, it was Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez who welcomed me. She saw my talents as an asset to this community inviting me to be of service and work with Borinquen Dance Theatre. Nydia supported me as a new wife and mother, she mentored me to become a community leader, to use my skills and talents for Latinx Arts. She celebrated my victories and was there to pick up the pieces when I failed… always with a loving hand to guide me. Nydia is the first Goddess Sister I made in Rochester and I thank her for loving and supporting me over 20 years now and paving the way for so many other sisters to follow. I am grateful to be in her circle of sisters and blessed to celebrate her as my Shero today.

“Now I can talk to more girls TEACHER and tell them TRAININGS that any

skin color, any economic INTERNATIONAL background, any RETREATS shape they are born into is perfect WEEKLY and right CLASSES and strong and beautiful and enough because I am sitting here not a stereotype.

—Gina Rodriguez

”

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