Pools of vomit cling to the frozen ground

A collage of fast food ferments in cheap beer:

‘buy one, get one free’.  The tills ring loud and clear.

The writings of Joyce are often thought of as difficult to comprehend – and are thus lost to many.

What could be more simple and touching than this tribute to his father passed on, and the birth of his grandson?

The trees are in their autumn beauty,

The woodland paths are dry,

Under the October twilight the water

Mirrors a still sky:

Upon the brimming water among the stones

Are nine-and-fifty swans.

Patrick Kavanagh of Monaghan paid tribute to the memory of his mother.

I do not think of you lying in the wet clay

Of a Monaghan graveyard; I see

You walking down a lane among the poplars

On your way to the station, or happily

While I remain on this theme ….  And please, I don’t want Jasper and Cloakie at each other’s throats, metaphorically, determined to separately identify .. ‘her faithless sons (who) betrayed her’ !!

We scarcely ever hear Moore‘s melodies any more – though there was a time when RTE played them ceaselessly. Most being reflective of old friends and of sad/happy/glorious times gone by, they certainly deserve an airing on Newry Journal.