May 1974

May 1974 Why do you need to waste your time today Writing an elegy no one will read? Add the half-cent to the cent And text to shivering text For you were born to text And save- But let her be She’s dead and gone She’s with her baby in the grave Yet they were of a different kind They didn’t text Their lives they didn’t save- But let her be She’s dead and gone She’s with her baby in the grave Was it for this you came to Warsaw? To write poems about the dead in Dublin? Not today but 40 years ago- Does it matter where they died Or when? Does it matter where I live Or when? You can come to the party At the Irish Embassy The minister will be there The ICC will pay their share Forgotten by their own race who Fumble on the greasy keyboard Making money and texting tinkers Skypeing and phoning in the temple of Midas Please let her be She’s dead and gone She’s with her baby in the grave But should we not know Who her killer was? Or at least know Who connived at her killing……. So was it for this you wrote your dirge? To hold up the hatchet- To puncture the peace process- To live through that pain All over again Yet could we turn the years again And be in that same month of May? Could we just delete that day And save ourselves from all that pain? Just let her be She’s dead and gone She’s with her baby in the grave She’s surely dead and gone Yet justice must be done And we must go on You might cry- (Like after the Stardust fire) ‘Why?’ And I would answer - Between neighbouring nations That have good relations There are no secret files, no classified information Telling the truth is no delirium of the brave It is only what we owe to those in the grave 13.05.2015