Saturday, June 28, 2008

Comrades in Arms

Comrades in Arms


Nature playing the role
Of some devil may care
Dressed up for some other
Non local affair
With destiny settled
For certainty those
Who chose to accept
The conditions imposed
And practiced his art
With such consummate skill
That he only just made it
With time left to kill.

Photograph: Plaque outside
ledwidge Cottage
Slane County Meath.
Summer 2007.


Friday, June 13, 2008

Carpetbags

Carpetbags

Carpetbags
are different now.
Only a few loose ends
and the colours change.
In the marketplace
it's all up for grabs.
Dealers holding
a watching brief,
and the new order's in
hawking its wares.
Attache cases.
And the rules the same,
buy cheap, sell dear,
and no compartment now
for missing files,
not like the old ones.
Everything carefully stitched
except a few pockets
of resistance
taking a morality cheque
just for the present.
And everyone's waiting
for a White Christmas.
Photograph: Homeplace of Francis Ledwidge
Slane Co.Meath. Born 1887
Died France 1917.