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St Patrick's Day

Posted by LawOfTheOne on March 17, 2008 - 00:56
from the ABC set Poems

Rising late from slumber
in the early afternoon rays
kids gleeful to have no school
adults smirking 'cos there not working.
The televisual box is switched on
if only to comply with the celtic rules
and glimpse the parade shifting through Dublin
the usual dancing and twirling
the silly souls spectating head to toe
in macks to keep out the inevitable rain
who keeps her date with our rugged island
March 17th, each and every year.
Another station shows Boston, and New York and Chicago
a bleak reminder of the famine which
drove their names across the Atlantic
to the land of hope and the free.
Which it certainly isn't here
as my nephew bursts in the door
18 euro for a tri-colour and hat
oh to see Pearse's face now.
The local stampede is scheduled for 3pm
so we make our way down at ten to four
under a threatening sky and suffocating air
not stopping we walk on through.
First come the town's young sports teams
all gleamy and proud and joy
I remember being there myself
imagining strutting beside Collins and the gang
commanding attention on the ruins of O'Connel street.
Last were the waste disposal lorries
I tell not a lie
evidently sent to pick up the ideas and thoughts
scattered on the cosain by the the tigers roar.
Hitting the pub to drown our sorrows
at how it all turned out
did you see the Guinness with the shamrock head?
excuse to drink ten more.
Falling home at a dismal hour
a green blur of noise
doing our best imitations
of Paddy from sceals of old.
The books may say
that he turned us gods way
and banished all the snakes
but under the helipads, spire and more
the serpents hisssssss
their fork-tonged song
of promise gone so wrong.

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Comments

LawOfTheOne | March 17, 2008 - 00:59

For any non-irish reading this, there are some bits you probably won't get.

Need or want any of them explained, just leave a comment.

keleph | March 17, 2008 - 01:34

that is brilliant. really captured the zeitgiest in so many little ways.

LawOfTheOne | March 17, 2008 - 01:51

Thanks keleph, I was going for the personal touches, then again, I did try and denounce society as a whole too. :)

keleph | March 17, 2008 - 03:00

Not really, I think there's something special about being the only people to know what the real scael of st.patricks day is in relation to our past..something Irish

robert-jordan | March 22, 2008 - 17:54

A very bleak portrayal of ireland. Is it deserved?

LawOfTheOne | March 23, 2008 - 00:35

Hey rob, thanks for commenting.
I just tried to tap into the minds of the 1916 leaders, civil war, etc to show how different the country has turned out compared to their ideals, which were the hopes of most of the public at the time then aswell.

Nobody nowadays seems to care about the fact that these men died so our country wouldn't turn out the way it has.

animan | April 9, 2008 - 13:16

This has a great flow to it and the stream of images and comment is very effective and kind of thrilling - one/I seems to understand the references enough without needing to be told their full meaning I felt. This has a very pleasing lilt to it - so much so that it's hard, for me at least, to feel the sense of outrage that it seeks I think to express. But maybe I'm not reading its tone quite right yet. I shall come back to it. Can one have a lilting anger? Is that what O'Casey is about?

animan | April 10, 2008 - 20:01

I did come back to it and decided that I'd, personally, want to amend the beginning a bit towards this, as follows. Hope you don't mind my [late/iterant/rather direct] input here. If you do, pls. just say so, and I'll know not to do it again. I'm not very 'au fait' with the etiquette of this kind of thing. (I do like 'televisual box' loads.)

Waking to the early afternoon rays; kids gleeful to have
no school;adults smirking 'cos
they're not working.
The televisual box is switched on

OR

Rising late
from slumber in the afternoon rays, to
kids gleeful to have no school, to
adults smirking 'cos they're not working.
The televisual box is switched on

LawOfTheOne | May 26, 2008 - 12:31

Thanks animan, sorry I havn't replied earlier. The tone is deliberately the way you described because it mirrors Irish people's state of mind around that time of year. Lilting anger : I love it. I don't mind any suggestions and think that if I were to change it it'd be to your first one. Thanks again for the feedback.

charlie99 | July 5, 2008 - 22:01

>>>oh to see Pearse's face now

Excellent!

LawOfTheOne | August 13, 2008 - 00:59

Thanks charlie99, sorry for the belated reply. Man I was depressed when I wrote this; and I've just watched The Wind That Shakes The Barley earlier tonight, hence my re-reading of this. We're a great country for sorrowful, dreary "art".