Carrie Twomey with a poem
Now that peace is at hand
They have commissioned
monuments
to the New Future.
We are all encouraged
to forget the past
because we have so much
to look forward to.
Move ahead or stay behind
Stay behind and learn to die.
It will kill you, living in
the past
and all the dreams the
future was supposed to be.
I have too many ghosts in
my head
angry at me for their
creation.
I don't know what to tell them —
the story has been changed,
the ending rewritten
At any rate it's not
what I have been
telling them all these
years
and they are
somewhat upset with me.
"This?
This is your glorious dream?
This is why you
sat outside my backdoor,
and waited for
me to burst out, running
from the gunman at the
front
This is why you leaped into
view at the last second
and pulled the trigger?
This
is why you stood over me
and shot me in the head
to stop my pleading eyes
and shot me again to be
sure I was dead?
For this?
You know, you almost had
me believing my murder
was worth it.
Almost."
What do I say?
My credibility is shot to hell
in more ways than one —
they don't listen to me anymore,
all these angry ghosts
of troubles past
But they never did anyway...
They never thought they had
to die to begin with.
Not at my hand, not
for any glorious cause....
They have commissioned a
monument to peace
to the New Shared Future —
Build it not of marble but
of bone
Colour it not with
tins of paint but in the red
of blood — let it run at the
base and seep into
the ground
Ah yes, but we must not live in the
past — it is the past they
say that kills us
Yes, it is the past that kills us
We have so much to look forward to
A chorus of ghosts.
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Carrie-
ReplyDeleteA well thought out piece about our future peace-
There might be a few lost souls out there looking for a return to the war days but there is no one looking to fight it-
A fitting monument would be a 32 county socialist Republic but ones who see ghosts will still be haunted by ghosts no matter what-some just don't want to be happy-
Just read that after seeing a 75 year old man has been arrested in connection with the McGurk's Bar attack in December 1971. On the runs and now a man with more than one foot in the grave being lifted. It seems there is no end to this for 'selected' individuals.
ReplyDeleteread ur poem carrie twomey and then saw photo in front page of irish times business section almost immediately after (by pure accident). spooky.(not going to tell u what it is). thanks for ur poem. actually im a bit spooked now. michaelhenry, that is a gud call about a fitting monument being 32 county soc.rep. but i will be happy if psf get shafted in elections soon, sorry.
ReplyDeletelarry, ive disengaged with everything now, its all a bit weird and depressing. its like a sick game with no winners or losers.
ReplyDeleteGrouch
ReplyDeleteThe poem is hard hitting. There needs to be some kind of closure or it will all fester and eventually re-ignite. I'll have me brewers cert soon then I'll hop on the ould 64 Bus Ereann
Sad and thought provoking.
ReplyDeleteJust wonder though, why everyone elses history and campaigns retain some glory and ours is turned in on us like a vinegar soaked sponge in a still gaping wound.
Fionnuala
ReplyDeletemight just be coz SF took jobs in Stormont and stood 'shoulder to shoulder' with the enemy.
That's why.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteThat's a big part of it okay, in fact the biggest part.
Sell out and treachery can reduce an entire people, their struggle and their way of thinking to dust.
But I can help thinking, all that was good and just and necessary is being also being reduced.
im very close to breaking out and getting hammered larry, - fionnuala, life is a big mad learning curve, but ive learned a bit too much now at this stage, it must be worse for ye up there.
ReplyDeleteNuala the Provisional IRA and its Volunteers are held in the highest esteem round these parts regardless of what a corrupt West Belfast cabal ended up doing in their name. There is so much to be proud of. The treachery of Adams and his ilk will never diminish or tarnish the reputation of those like the Loughall martyrs, the two Brendan's, the H-Block hungerstrikers, the Gibraltar three, the many, many more who fought and died in the last period of armed resistance to the British presence in our country. History they say is written by the winners so until we achieve our certain victory meanwhile we will speak their names with pride among our own. Lovely poem Carrie, as I said on Facebook we will write our own ending because to quote Victor Hugo 'nothing is as powerful as an idea who's time has come' - and our time will soon be here. It's destiny
ReplyDeletePowerful poem Carrie.
ReplyDeleteYeats' An Irish Airman Foresees His Death though a short poem has lines in it with which we can associate, in particular the last few lines...
I know that I shall meet my fate
Somewhere among the clouds above;
Those that I fight I do not hate,
Those that I guard I do not love;
My country is Kiltartan Cross,
My countrymen Kiltartan's poor,
No likely end could bring them loss
Or leave them happier than before.
Nor law, nor duty bade me fight,
Nor public men, nor cheering crowds,
A lonely impulse of delight
Drove to this tumult in the clouds;
I balanced all, brought all to mind,
The years to come seemed waste of breath,
A waste of breath the years behind
In balance with this life, this death.
Sean Bres,
ReplyDeletewould that be the same 'Cabal' mandated by the members of the same army as your list of volunteers, whose memory you seem to claim ownership of.
I wonder did you know any of those volunteers from Tyrone?
I suspect you didn't as your comments seem to portray a romanticism that could only come from one too young to know what it's like to live with the consequences of taking human life.
Jo Jo Sands,
ReplyDeleteHow many Republicans voted for your treasured mandate, republicans not constitutional nationalists.
Plenty tricked initially, but then slowly but surely the penny dropped.
Those you speak so romantically about traded the Republican ideal for a slice of power in a Government where they remain powerless and nice fancy earners.
Someone has to hold true to something not every ideal can be sold off up in the big house or for a villa wherever they currently have their stocks and shares.
As for consequences. Allegedly it was a war!
That's what I meant yesterday, when I asked is there nothing about Republican struggle that isn't being diminished?
jojo, ive a feelin sean bres is old enuf to be ur aul fella,and cud be as unromantic as a bag of thistles when he wants to be. dont know the man but thats my impression.
ReplyDeleteI don't claim ownership of anything Jojo so if it reads like that then that's not my intention at all. What I will say though is it's fair to say from the reaction of the Connolly family to Sinn Fein's recent behaviour in Aghyaran in relation to their brother Josie the same does not apply to yourselves. As for the army membership mandating the current direction that's disputed - the gerrymandering and manipulation of the army convention that dealt with this issue is now public knowledge. Regardless of that, the reaction of republicans in Tyrone over the last few years and the people involved tells us that most of those who held position within the army at the time of the decision you're talking about have no trust in that leadership or its direction and have either openly expressed it or walked away. The East Tyrone Brigade effectively dissociated from the Adams leadership when it attempted to intimidate and force the republican families in these areas to submit to their will after having been told they were not welcome to speak over the graves of their loved one's - so that should indicate where things are at in terms of any army mandate. When they attempted to invoke the authority of the Army Council those in the room told them they were no longer subject to its authority. People who backed the direction to give the political process a chance can change their mind you know. They have and are seeking a new direction. What needs to be said here is that the political process as it exists has no monopoly on the peace process. You are right that I did not personally know any of the Volunteers mentioned but I didn't realise that had to be the case to have the right to defend their memory. I was 12 years old when the last IRA Volunteers in Tyrone were wiped out in Clonoe churchyard. Some of those killed during the IRA's campaign were friends with my dad and I myself have many friends who were Volunteers themselves or had loved ones killed on Active Service. I believe what I said is a reflection of how the great majority of them feel so if that's romanticising anything then I can live with that despite your criticism
ReplyDeleteSean you should claim ownership, everyone Irish republican should, they were Oglaigh na hEireann, they fought and died on our behalf, for an ideal the ‘would be’ custodians now think of as an aspiration, not a demand.
ReplyDeleteSean Bres
ReplyDeleteYou are NOT required to justify your republicanism to JOJO or anyone else. No more so than those 100,000 at Bobby Sands funeral were required to know him personally. I'd be much more inclined to ask JOJO and people in SF did they know Scap, Donaldson and the likes personally. But when McGuninness can get blanket SF support for standing shoulder to shoulder with the Chief constable of the RUC to tell us their common enemies are traitors to Ireland, we know the beastie (SF) we are dealing with. The Belfast mafia have some nerve for sure, deference however is not something they are worthy of.
By jojo's rationale the mere fact of age seniority covers a multitude of sins. SF revisionism gone insane, like much else about their 'republicanism'. From someone who thinks republicanism is a dead duck because of the Belfast mafia, all I can say to you Sean is Hold your head up and stop giving those particular people respect where none is due.
The poem Dixie posted was for me quite insightful on young men's minds in conflict situation. It would have been interesting to read from the same person had he survived, but I suppose we have Wilfred Owen for that.
ReplyDeleteSean,
ReplyDeleteWe didn't know the Volunteers of 1916, well not personally does that disallow us from having an opinion on them?
Sinn Fein can play the old romanticism and consequence trick depending on which coat they are wearing.
Madness, the whole lot if you don't wear sack cloth your a cheer leader.
Now, if you have pride in our patriot dead you don't appreciate the consequence of this that and the other.
Funny, how all that consequence and conscience never interrupted the lining of their pockets. It never stopped McGuinness using a mother to end her son's life and it never stopped Adams telling a family he was in prison when their mother was killed even though he wasn't.
Your right about West Belfast Sean,it's like millionaire row. Lavish lifestyles on Brit funding and stolen money.
You would need a very large Spike to prick their conscience.
great last sentence there f.perry
ReplyDeleteGrouch,
ReplyDeleteWallace murdered traitors in their beds!
We have them prancing around files under their arms and the Northern Bank money under their beds.
Half the landlords on this road are former IRA. Not too many programmes made about their skulduggery or unfit living accommodations.
They even have an office set up to collect the rent!
time to get the blue paint out fionnuala. as someone said earlier on another blog, republicans were always a minority in the ira, u cud say the same for socialists. bone-idle landlord wannabees and doublespeakers is what those goons and goonettes are. keep the faith though comrade perry, the o'marxists will route them out, the spirit of braveheart is ours.
ReplyDeleteGrouch,
ReplyDeleteSounds like promotion.
yes, but dont tell anyone.
ReplyDeleteAh jojo how people like yourself; Adamsites, can support a party led by a proven paedophile protector and McGuinness, a man who's past is seriously questionable, given the reluctance of the British to put him away, is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteYou lot are a disgrace to the memory of our fallen comrades...
The poem is very concise in its anti-war sentiment absent is the usual pacifist voice as it protests almost with anger perhaps stemming from our usual blindness when it comes to our distrust of peace.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of peace is not immune to the different camps a republican peace, a unionist peace and a British peace, all seem to conflict rather than agree.
I didn’t get the feeling reading that it was directed at one section of the conflict it seems clear and makes no distinction the ghosts being all those that died and how they haunt us to this day.
The same three voices present their own barriers to peace which is fragile we would be foolish to dispel the idea that it wouldn’t take much to kick it off again.
If it does kick off again we can be certain that it will be more brutal than our recent past.
The politicians entrusted with peace don’t seem to mind stirring up tensions.
The British government add to the tension intent on demanding we move forward as they continue to prosecute the past with bias not seeking justice for people but in a sense trying to tidy up the mess they made washing their hands of their dirty war.
One notable monument to their idea of peace being the MI5 headquarters which clearly says their war is unfinished in the north.
Even if the Paramilitaries packed it in on both sides MI5 have a permanent home in the north.
Welcome to the quasi police peace state.
No room for debate on this site at all.
ReplyDeleteA lot of assumptions made about my politics after a couple of posts which were met with vitriol and bitterness bordering on the obsessive.
Jo Jo.
ReplyDeleteThere is plenty of room here for debate in fact that is always on the menu regardless if we are right wrong or in-between.
Assumptions are inclusive in debate if you choose to spell out your politics that would remove the guessing.
People that arrive here are not automatically unwelcomed if they hold a different perspective.
Pull up a chair and have at it, which is the general take on the Quill.
jojo, wait til u cross ur leadership, then ul know all about it. dont go from this site a cara, if anything it will help you develop a thicker skin which will be a good lesson for you. we're not the worst here. a bit old, a bit cranky, a bit bitchy, but jojo, we have been let down. big time.
ReplyDelete