Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page
| If you have a poem you'd like to see published in The Irish Examiner then send it to:
The Poetry Corner
The Irish Examiner USA
1040 Jackson Avenue, Third Floor
Long Island City
NY 11101
or, preferably, you can email it direct to
ronniemcginn@eircom.net.
If possible keep your poem to 20 lines. You may choose any subject you like, in any form you like as long as it's original. We look forward to hearing from you. |
The Annals of the Four Masters tell us that winters in ancient Ireland were often close to arctic conditions; unfortunately there are no scientific records to verify this.
However we do know that 1947 was the coldest and most bitter winter on record.
World War Two had ended, there was virtually no electricity, food, and heat and lighting were scarce.
Unemployment was high, poverty was widespread. Life in general was miserable and the future looked bleak.
In some areas, women whose husbands had joined the British Forces during the war were ostracised by family, friends and neighbours.
Fighting for the flag of Ireland's oldest enemy was severely frowned upon. If the soldier didn't return, there was no support for his family.
If anything happened to his wife, motherless children were often left to wander the streets, hungry, abandoned and alone.
On Christmas Day 1947 the body of a girl, estimated to be about nine or ten years old was found on Adelaide Street in Cork.
She was barefoot and dressed in nothing but a dirty flimsy dress and an old worn overcoat.
No one ever claimed the body nor was she ever identified. It was two months before the ground had thawed enough for a burial.
Today she lies in an unmarked grave in the Corracheapán Cemetery in Clogheen Co Cork.
Night of the Starry Sky
Cold was the night of the starry sky
And snow lay all around,
A lonely girl came down the street,
Her footsteps made no sound.
For on those feet, there were no shoes,
And upon her head no hat,
A coat she wore, not much,
Buy yet she thanked God for that.
For she was poor, alone and poor,
Her clothes were all she had,
Through snow she trod, with feet unshod,
Alone, and lost and sad.
Then suddenly her eyes were drawn,
To a welcome glowing light,
And in the house from where it came,
The world seemed warm and bright,
It was inside a window pane,
She tiptoed close to see,
She cried through cracked and frozen lips,
"Why it's a Christmas Tree,
I should have known, it's so been long
Since my poor Mama died,
God bless her soul, she was my life,
I was her joy and pride,
But she is gone and I'm alone,
Oh God forgive my shame....
Our father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name...."
The lonely girl fell in the snow,
In cold and hunger wept,
And to her in her agony,
A peaceful feeling crept
And on her face so gaunt and pale,
A light shone from the house
She heard a voice "Come in my child
And make your home with us".
And then arose the lonely girl,
And stepped in through the door
Caring hands reached out to her,
And she belonged once more,
They gave her comfort, hope and food,
The best she'd ever had,
Gone were her rags, her feet wore shoes
She was all richly clad.
And 'round the tree the Christmas tree,
She danced the whole night long
Never so sweet life's melody,
Never so great life's song.
And in the glow of golden light
She sparkled like a pearl,
A starry night brought happiness
To the lonely little girl.
When the sun shone down the street,
They found her lying there,
A serene smile upon her face,
Her arms crossed in prayer.
With weary hands they lifted her,
And she was cold as clay.
"Our Father who art in Heaven,
Had called his child away..."
© Ronnie McGinn
| 
