I Have Not Seen What My Father Saw
I have seen not what my father saw
I have not ploughed the land
Or made a ruin into a home
With mortar mixed by hand.
I have not herded beasts through fields
I have not built stone walls
Or drew turf from peat bogs
And listened to curlews calls.
I have not crossed the border there
To a North of Ireland town
And stocked up on tea and butter
To the South to bring down.
Ive not faced the customs man
And passed him with a bribe
Or gave poteen to the Guardai
For I am but a scribe.
Those days are gone when all was good
That was a little underhand
Without being anyway criminal
People today don’t understand.
In a land of Celtic Tiger
We’ve lost the days of old
And all my father seen and went through
Are now but stories to be told.
Sure life indeed is better now
Or so by those in power say
But are we any happier
Than they were in their day?
They had little in their time
But they could always cope
There was always tomorrow:
So there was always hope!