Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Poetry Wednesday: The Party!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Party

“Good ‘eavens Missus Murphy

Who’s bringin Kevin to dis party?

He just got out tha clinker,

I don’t mean t’ be a stinker

But OY OY, what’s wid that boy?”

 

“Mr O Flaherty it is without regret you see

That I am young Kevin’s aunty

And his poor mother Kathleen

Suffering poorly and now unseen

She asked of me, to continue guardianship duty.”

 

“Ay Ay, I see’s 'Tis your duty indeed

The lads been a handful and takes no heed

Often I seen him wid me, very own eyes

Stealin’ from the likes of those upper crust guys

Twas only time before he was caught

Brazen as daylight, he seemed to care naught.”

 

“This party today is for Kevin, did you know?

Mr O Flaherty I realise, we reap what we sow

Kevin was a young lad when Kathleen got sick

His father had left her long before, when she, a mere whip-stick

And Kevin just a toddler in tow,

Poor Kathleen tried hard to keep up a good show”

 

“Aye Missus Murphy, I remember it well

That old man of Kathleen’s, he acted so swell

Poor woman I didn't know how she fared

That poor lil kid and she, were always so scared

'Twas good riddens when he finally went,

She was tired and looked so frightfully spent.”

 

“Correct you are Mr O Flaherty

A dastardly fellow he surely be

Kathleen managed as best she ever could

Kevin so young, never understood

Why at night his mother weak and worn

Would cry and say”, “Kevin, All will be better by the morn”

 

“Ay Ay, Missus Murphy I know it was tough

I know poor Kathleen had been through enough

But I still didn't ev-er understand

How young Kevin got so 'out O hand.'

I 'd scratches me head everyday, wondering wot ta do or say.”

 

“Mr O Flaherty Kevin stole food for them both to eat

Kathleen and Kevin, we did not know at the time, ate not even meat,

No food at all, so hard it be, Kevin stole, through necessity.

Most turned a blind eye until ...one day,

A new constable came this way and took young Kevin far away.”

 

“It was rumoured that in the clink he be..

Did ya know that Missus Murphy?"

 

"Aye I did Mr O Flaherty, but nigh that was not to be

Young Kevin was kept at the kind constables home

Sent to school to learn and showed how to earn.”

 

"Well! Well! Missus Murphy I’d ne’er have known

Twas only today I heard of the party and him comin’ on ‘ome."

 

"Praise! be! Mr O Flaherty this is! Kevin’s home coming party.

Now raise your mug for a toast, 

Because Our Kevin has just been given a post

As our very new officer at the constabulary, 

And it is your daughter who he wants to marry.

 

“Oh Gawd, Glory be,  I'm shocked, Aye that I be

Cause I didn't’t even know that my Mary even felt so

She has been working in the city for a year  or more now

An’ ya know Missus Murphy?

She said she met erself an Alfy

An ..Ne’er in a million years..

Would I have thought he be, Kevin Alfy...Spears.”

 

“Ahh!  a surprise Mr O Flaherty?

And I think very soon together, we shall all be.”

 

Milli 7/8/2008

 

 

Poetry Wednesday Tour Starts Here.

 

12 comments:

  1. Thank you Milli for your beautiful comment on my poetry blog. You are really a great poet and you have presented such a marvelous poem written by you. I like it very much. Thanks for sharing.

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  2. Well my last has been lost so I will just say
    Well done

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  3. :).. Stolen out of necessity.. Thank god for the Kind Constable. :). Nicely put the snapshot of life.

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  4. I have read it twice, as usual, whenever I visit your page on poetry! You are great, Milli. You always write as if it were a river flowing smoothly towards its mouth. I love your way!

    I am glad you did a visit to my page and liked the poem by Ruy Belo. Thanks.

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  5. You are so very talented, I wisH I could write like that! It is very apparent your heart is in it! Lovely photo by the way...

    Thanks for visiting mine!

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  6. I loved the flow and verbage. I could hear the dialect in my mind. What a great expression.

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  7. Terrific use of language, straight out of theater, terrific biography. I feel like I am listening in to a conversation over the fence or near me in a restaurant. Just great, you nailed it! Great job, Mil!

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  8. I had to read it a couple of times to get the flow and like Sue think it sounds very much like two old crones gossiping over the fence...it's great piece of work.

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  9. thank you to all for your kind comments. Just as an aside here, how unusual it is to try to write in another dialect. It actually becomes quite challenging to place it on paper so to speak. Missus Murphy and Mr O Flaherty's conversations reverberate in my mind down to their last lilt.
    However getting that into writing is such a challenge as I found out. To anyone who had to read this more than once I would agree it is best read more than once and if you can even read it aloud with the emphasis on accents and expression then I think the piece actually comes more alive. Theatrical...yes. If anyone wishes to recite this poem for me in audio And place it here, then I would be thrilled.

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  10. Lovely, I love those musical poems, the ones we can hear in our head as we read. Poor Mr. O Flaherty, I thought in denial he be.

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