Wait! I have but yet begun to live.
Teeter-Totter
by John O’Brien, Jr.
Born in the Burren
joy, laughter, song and story
A rich heritage steeped in lore
hedge schools and seanchie.
Centuries old rediscovered, relived, passed on.
Then,
stone tables barren
resounding echoes of barren acts of the stranger.
Burying, endless burying
children, hunger, hatred, hope
before finally
being waked in the shadow of a ship.
Up the plank
off to America,
down the plank
and into the Civil War.
Trading the aching silence of famine
for the cannon roar and cacophony of freedom
Fair trade?
The want of spuds,
or the want of bullets
mainly just the want of a chance
to live.
Hundred thousands Union, ten thousands Confederate
Different beliefs,
yet the song and the sorrow,
the laughter and the lacerations,
are the same,
no matter the race, no matter the language
and burst forth with equal finality.
Wait! I have but yet begun to live.
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Currently listening : Fighting Tigers of Ireland-a Us Civil War Collecti By Jed Marum Release date: By 02 March, 2004 |