Dedicated to my friends, the best fighters I know
.
When you are down and you feel all is lost;
When all around you is nothing but blame;
When all you have endured bears a high cost;
Take heart because you’re still in the game.
Some think it’s only a victory to win,
And some never settle for second best;
But their game is not the one you’re in,
Take heart because you face a sterner test.
You face the sterner test and you overcome,
And you kept dignity throughout the bout;
Though there are hurdles you do not succumb,
Take heart for your trust dispels any doubt.
And when you think things are beyond a try,
When you think you’ve done it all before,
Remember, it takes courage to just cry,
Take heart setbacks are nothing to deplore.
Take heart for all things ever ebb and flow,
Take heart for when dark there also follows light,
Take heart for out of tough things you shall grow,
And you shall grow because you fought the fight.
Friday, December 21, 2012
Beast
All of a sudden it lunged at me
This huge black beast
Growling and fiercely terrifying ,
Its razor sharp claws,
Swiping out at me
And I on the ground
Using my heels to push myself away from it
Instead of getting on my feet
And calmly saying
I am not afraid
I have claws too.
This huge black beast
Growling and fiercely terrifying ,
Its razor sharp claws,
Swiping out at me
And I on the ground
Using my heels to push myself away from it
Instead of getting on my feet
And calmly saying
I am not afraid
I have claws too.
Tear
Keep me in your heart,
Till I or love are gone,
Then let me out
Like a homeless tear,
Upon your cheek,
Sweetheart.
Till I or love are gone,
Then let me out
Like a homeless tear,
Upon your cheek,
Sweetheart.
Holiday
For fifty weeks -
That’s not too ambitious;
I’ll still have two weeks off for holidays;
I need a break;
I intend to go to Rome this year -
I promised myself I would;
I’ll spend the first week in the old city,
Visit St Peter’s Basilica
And the Colosseum,
Obviously climb the Spanish Steps,
I’ve always wanted to to that;
Maybe toss a coin in the Trevi Fountain
So I’ll go back;
The second week I’ll spend exploring the country;
And after that, I’ll quite happily start writing
About the things I haven’t done yet;
But first, I need a holiday.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Faith
From tar-black waters I draw in my net:
Tonight the sea has chosen not to love;
Oh how it has angered since I first set
Out, then ’twas a reflection of heaven above.
Now boat and I are battered by wild waves,
And I know not if I shall homeward return;
I know not if lives like mine God saves,
And it frightens me. I frown, O falsehood, I mourn -
And wonder whether or not he will reach out his arm,
And steer me to, or from, a watery grave.
Dear God, grant it be so that I come to no harm,
Oh say this life was not just for death gave.
And if not, if this be my time, then I go unafraid,
For I have lived well and loved much:
Moreso, I have learnt that a man such as thou made,
If he has faith, has enough.
Declan O’Reilly
Tonight the sea has chosen not to love;
Oh how it has angered since I first set
Out, then ’twas a reflection of heaven above.
Now boat and I are battered by wild waves,
And I know not if I shall homeward return;
I know not if lives like mine God saves,
And it frightens me. I frown, O falsehood, I mourn -
And wonder whether or not he will reach out his arm,
And steer me to, or from, a watery grave.
Dear God, grant it be so that I come to no harm,
Oh say this life was not just for death gave.
And if not, if this be my time, then I go unafraid,
For I have lived well and loved much:
Moreso, I have learnt that a man such as thou made,
If he has faith, has enough.
Declan O’Reilly
The flowers are but brief to cherish
The flowers are but brief to cherish
And our regard once gone is scant;
From the moment we do perish,
Our life's worth is no more plant.
We carry no roots to the earth,
No pledge that we shall bloom next year,
Our seasons come with sad and mirth,
Both shine and storm we have to bear.
We are as flowers out of soil,
We have such a short time to grow;
Ere winter comes to end our toil,
Love what you have before it go.
Love that life for ‘tis a short show,
Ours is not to exist ahead;
For we are as fleeting as snow,
And that of life, this much we dread.
The flowers are but brief to cherish,
And we are as brief as them still,
From the moment we do perish,
All we were is all the space we fill.
Declan O'Reilly
And our regard once gone is scant;
From the moment we do perish,
Our life's worth is no more plant.
We carry no roots to the earth,
No pledge that we shall bloom next year,
Our seasons come with sad and mirth,
Both shine and storm we have to bear.
We are as flowers out of soil,
We have such a short time to grow;
Ere winter comes to end our toil,
Love what you have before it go.
Love that life for ‘tis a short show,
Ours is not to exist ahead;
For we are as fleeting as snow,
And that of life, this much we dread.
The flowers are but brief to cherish,
And we are as brief as them still,
From the moment we do perish,
All we were is all the space we fill.
Declan O'Reilly
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Lament
Dear Nation, we bow our heads as we tread;
Our heart’s are heavy, our spirit near broke;
No eulogy from plinth or alter were read,
And yet it is among the distressed spoke;
The young state had died, her virtue is gone;
Her colours shames, hang like a white flag;
We mourn all the ideals our forebears won;
The wolves of Europe have killed the great stag;
And we weep. We weep as the despair gets worse,
We weep for those that deteriorate most,
Our hope is as spent as our squandered purse;
We swore to be free, it is no more boast
We chain those that gave less than they could give -
With this, our one curse. We will not forgive.
Declan O’Reilly
Our heart’s are heavy, our spirit near broke;
No eulogy from plinth or alter were read,
And yet it is among the distressed spoke;
The young state had died, her virtue is gone;
Her colours shames, hang like a white flag;
We mourn all the ideals our forebears won;
The wolves of Europe have killed the great stag;
And we weep. We weep as the despair gets worse,
We weep for those that deteriorate most,
Our hope is as spent as our squandered purse;
We swore to be free, it is no more boast
We chain those that gave less than they could give -
With this, our one curse. We will not forgive.
Declan O’Reilly
No One Left To Go
Barely enough rooms had the house,
In the country of long ago;
Barely enough fare for a mouse,
But doors lay open on the row.
Doors were open wide on the row,
And the kindred stood all as one;
But numbers fell through the years low,
And times sad work was almost done.
One by one left till none did rouse,
Now all's changed upon the row;
For empty rooms quiet the bleak house,
And there is no one left to go.
Declan O'Reilly
In the country of long ago;
Barely enough fare for a mouse,
But doors lay open on the row.
Doors were open wide on the row,
And the kindred stood all as one;
But numbers fell through the years low,
And times sad work was almost done.
One by one left till none did rouse,
Now all's changed upon the row;
For empty rooms quiet the bleak house,
And there is no one left to go.
Declan O'Reilly
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Gannet
Not so the gannet; no avert in flight
If an ill shadow on cliff catches her ken,
Then in measured odds her mood swoops to fight.
She affronts the gale though it is no wind,
No guidance of word does her mind embrace;
With no one ahead and no one behind,
Her counsel is solo, no turn in pace.
There are two things in the world all protect .
That of a life, the other of a home;
The gannet straight, her eye in keen aspect,
Knows this, though her wings soar over the foam.
Declan O'Reilly
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Unfinished
I am the
father of these poems,
They are of me as I was then;
All stand as if unfinished homes,
All are prayers that wait amen.
When I am gone they shall still live,
In lands and times I’ve never known;
And my name a glance you may give,
And know I sang as one of your own.
And if my theme touched your heart,
I shall have done all that I sought;
I shall not from the world depart,
When you hold dear the verse I wrought.
They are of me as I was then;
All stand as if unfinished homes,
All are prayers that wait amen.
When I am gone they shall still live,
In lands and times I’ve never known;
And my name a glance you may give,
And know I sang as one of your own.
And if my theme touched your heart,
I shall have done all that I sought;
I shall not from the world depart,
When you hold dear the verse I wrought.
Declan O'Reilly
The Key
You said
you could read my mind,
That you knew my every dream;
I am wide awake again tonight;
I stayed up to listen out for you,
I lay on the sofa thinking,
Of nothing more than the sound,
Of your key turning in the door;
I thought you might have
Brought it by back by now;
But you already know that;
Unless you are still fast asleep,
Like last night.
That you knew my every dream;
I am wide awake again tonight;
I stayed up to listen out for you,
I lay on the sofa thinking,
Of nothing more than the sound,
Of your key turning in the door;
I thought you might have
Brought it by back by now;
But you already know that;
Unless you are still fast asleep,
Like last night.
Declan
O'Reilly
Bullied
Then in
September
When the first leaves fell,
Soft and graceful,
You came down
Almost as far
Yet never touched the ground;
You gave no one the satisfaction,
Of taking the only thing
You loved,
So you took it yourself;
The priest spoke of forgiveness,
About being there for each other,
The whole town turned out,
Except, the bullies;
Yesterday, I visited your grave;
No headstone,
Just a simple timber cross,
Your name in gold;
A few leaves swirled,
Across the bouquets that marked our regret;
I am here for you,
Like the priest said;
Hush the sobbing.
When the first leaves fell,
Soft and graceful,
You came down
Almost as far
Yet never touched the ground;
You gave no one the satisfaction,
Of taking the only thing
You loved,
So you took it yourself;
The priest spoke of forgiveness,
About being there for each other,
The whole town turned out,
Except, the bullies;
Yesterday, I visited your grave;
No headstone,
Just a simple timber cross,
Your name in gold;
A few leaves swirled,
Across the bouquets that marked our regret;
I am here for you,
Like the priest said;
Hush the sobbing.
Declan
O'Reilly
Titanic - A 100th Anniversary Commemorative Poem
(In memory of those lost in the North Atlantic Ocean on the 15th April 1912)
She sunk upon a moonless night,
After sending her distress plea,
When an iceberg on starboard side
Struck the hull and let in the sea.
When cry went up, lower away,
And lifeboats were eased to the sea;
All on and off knew come what may,
Acts of love outlive tragedy.
Not all made it back to safe shore,
Many perished in the chill sea;
We call them now as were before,
We call ships dead by name to be.
We call them all home, one by one,
Back to the lands they briefly left,
We count them back as roll is done;
Home ye come, from waters bereft.
Home ye come, that sailed away,
Ye that voyaged for a new start,
Come ye back on this April day,
And port you here the long apart.
We call you from the liners heart,
In Southampton, Cherbourg and Cobh;
We raise your name, the long apart;
Though you are far, though you still rove;
All will live on, live beyond years,
All aboard that found an ocean grave;
Though new waters dilute old tears,
They move all on with each long wave.
She sunk upon a moonless night,
After sending her distress plea,
When an iceberg on starboard side
Struck the hull and let in the sea.
When cry went up, lower away,
And lifeboats were eased to the sea;
All on and off knew come what may,
Acts of love outlive tragedy.
Not all made it back to safe shore,
Many perished in the chill sea;
We call them now as were before,
We call ships dead by name to be.
We call them all home, one by one,
Back to the lands they briefly left,
We count them back as roll is done;
Home ye come, from waters bereft.
Home ye come, that sailed away,
Ye that voyaged for a new start,
Come ye back on this April day,
And port you here the long apart.
We call you from the liners heart,
In Southampton, Cherbourg and Cobh;
We raise your name, the long apart;
Though you are far, though you still rove;
All will live on, live beyond years,
All aboard that found an ocean grave;
Though new waters dilute old tears,
They move all on with each long wave.
Beneath
the ice sea rest the brave,
Though the wrecks remnants shift and toss,
And flowers are thrown to the wave,
For a hundred years pass of loss.
Though the wrecks remnants shift and toss,
And flowers are thrown to the wave,
For a hundred years pass of loss.
Declan O'Reilly
Monday, November 19, 2012
Forsaken
Hi all. Seems I've become bitten by the Blogger bug. Guess it was only a matter of time before I ended up doing this. After so long hiding away from the world, I've decided to embrace it now. This is my life. And I welcome all of to it. I'll start with a poem of mine. You knew that was coming right...
Forsaken
I am sick of your lies,
And the way you leave me,
When I need you most;
You never return my calls
Or answer my letters;
You cram my soul with
So much suffering,
I just can’t take it anymore,
I get so depressed,
And I’m worn out
From crying myself to sleep;
My health is failing
And you ignore me,
But Biddy down the road,
She says you visit her constantly
And she hasn’t a complaint;
I even heard she goes
Around to your house
With fresh flowers
Every day;
Are you cheating on me?
Cause I feel cheated
And cheap;
How can you and I
Continue this relationship
When only one loves,
When only one is ashamed,
Come down off that cross,
And love me back,
Or it’s over.
Forsaken
I am sick of your lies,
And the way you leave me,
When I need you most;
You never return my calls
Or answer my letters;
You cram my soul with
So much suffering,
I just can’t take it anymore,
I get so depressed,
And I’m worn out
From crying myself to sleep;
My health is failing
And you ignore me,
But Biddy down the road,
She says you visit her constantly
And she hasn’t a complaint;
I even heard she goes
Around to your house
With fresh flowers
Every day;
Are you cheating on me?
Cause I feel cheated
And cheap;
How can you and I
Continue this relationship
When only one loves,
When only one is ashamed,
Come down off that cross,
And love me back,
Or it’s over.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)