When John and Jim Were Lads!
When John and
Jim were lads,
American Freddie
and sweet Adele
Supped and
danced and laughed over local beer
And sometimes
wine from vaults of high esteem.
When John and
Jim were lads,
Steam trains
rumbled empty
Into crowded
platforms and left, full of people and salmon
And fresh
produce, all packed in together like sardines,
Egged on
to places near and far by the shouts of Bill Slogg
and other long
gone souls.
When John and
Jim were lads,
Beer and fags
were still cheap
But life wasn't.
Dervla was still
cultivating her imagination
In Carnegie's
library.
And the Andes
might as well have been the moon
When John and
Jim were lads,
Christian
Brothers still ruled their hands and minds,
And Presentation
Sisters ruled the girls.
When John and
Jim were lads,
Crowded street
processions
Still wound
their way,
Through even
more crowded pavements,
Giving honour to
God,
His Blessed
Mother or
Even too the
dead.
Especially the
dead with castle connections
When John
and Jim were lads,
Drohan's gas
lights still shone dimly
Over darkened
winter streets,
Milk still came
in bottles
And sweets in
jars
From little
shops that never closed.
Ah Yes!
When John and
Jim were lads!
***********************
(Published Dungarvan Observer 18.09.02)
