Here are two poems by Susan Jarvis Bryant.
Slàinte!
Today we’ll lift the Lenten limitations And don our Gaelic garb of kelly green. Bonhomie and glee and lush libations Will flow at dawn and dusk and in between. We’ll pluck a harp and pick a lucky shamrock, Kiss the Blarney Stone and spin a yarn, Eat colcannon, steaming stew, and ham hock As leprechauns make mischief in the barn. Oh Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling Will burst from balladeers down cobbled lanes. We’ll waltz and watch the Galway twilight falling While moonbeams dance on cottage windowpanes.We’ll toast to Irish eyes that always smile, St. Patrick and the snakeless Emerald Isle.
Slàinte: Irish for “Health!” or “Cheers!”
A stained glass window of St. Patrick shines brightly, in St. Patrick Catholic Church in Junction City, Ohio. Nheyob/CC BY-SA 4.0
St. Patrick’s Day
For an Ireland suffering terribly under the weight of forced migrationWhere is the one who rid the Emerald Isle Of snakes? Nostalgia hears the hell-bent tread Of gallant feet that trekked the extra mile To free Éire‘s bogs and cobbled streets from dread. As Irish eyes ignite and nectar flows In ebon rivers topped with clouds of cream; As memories jig to fiddles in the throes Of merriment, the restless banshees scream From shadows where the vipers hiss and spit. The harp strings shiver in the shamrock hour As pesky leprechauns of puckish wit Revel in the marvel of past power. Today the wistful nod and raise a toast To Ireland’s patron saint … a fading ghost.
Éire: Irish for Ireland
The urban decay in Dublin, Ireland, is evident, thanks to this 2012 photo. William Murphy/CC BY-SA 3.0
Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the UK, now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas.
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