At the steps of the GPO
(📝Marcella Boccia)
Beneath the pillars
stark and proud
Where rifles once
defied the crowd
A line now stretches
silent
still
A hunger deeper
than mere will
Their faces worn
by years of strife
Each glance
a shard of broken life
Men and women
old and young
With songs of sorrow
left unsung
I stood apart
my breath held tight
The ghosts of Easter
in the light
This sacred place
of rebel creed
Now bears the weight
of quiet need
The wind that whipped
the tricolor free
Now chills these souls
in poverty
The fight once waged
with steel and flame
Now battles hunger’s
endless shame
My heart rebelled
it burned
it wept
It cursed the crown
whose shadow crept
Whose greed still feeds
on distant shores
While here despair
knocks on the doors
Oh Ireland
land of grief and grace
How long
must famine haunt your face?
How cruel the chain
that binds anew
What freedom means
for so few of you
And yet
amidst this weary throng
A quiet courage
lingers strong
For in their eyes
though dimmed by care
A spark of something proud
is there
As I walked on
my soul did stay
Bound to that line
that bitter day
For what is poetry
but a cry
When faced with truths
that shan’t deny?