paul's poetry corner

And now here it is, folks: that long-awaited contribution from our very own modern-day Yeats, Mr. M Paul O'Brien (born County Limerick, 1975).

American Pie

A car in a drunken eyeless house,
That’s puked onto the street,
An empty corner where the kids used to meet,
A dirty teddy bear, a new bike with flat tyres,
Watermarks where the roof should be,
Front doors ajar – no need for a key.

‘I drove my Chevy to the Levy’ as the song goes,
But what happens when the Levy breaks to all the fleeing souls,
Cracked painted on sun-beaten wood,
People walk with small mouths,
How can they bear the silence of strife.

East Orleans a ghost town, intolerable views,
The residue of a hurricane gives me the blues,
But soon Mardi Gras and the chance to party,
To wash away last years nightmare, and re-forge the spirit,
To taste a piece of American pie, to laugh to sing
And reach up to the sky.

23 Feb 2006