My job was to lead the way,
to be an example,
to succeed first, fail first,
to leave and return.

No one could show me
where to go or what to do—
it was my job to figure that out.
I was the oldest, the first-born.

I didn’t understand why
I had to do this. None of them
cared to follow me—they
weren’t even watching.

After a while I came upon
a plan: I did everything
wrong; I found every
dead-end on the map.

Soon word got out:
whatever you do, don’t
do what your sister did.
I was the warning now.

Like a signpost in County Clare,
pointing in all directions at once,
I would be the road not to take.
That much I could say for sure.