On Sighting Sandy Row
Visiting Belfast back in 2008 we took a wrong turn, and drove by this mural by accident. While explaining the conflict to my two Polish friends, this poem popped into my mind… Its written in the Standard Habbie format made famous by the Bard of Ayrshire, Rabbie Burns
So that is where they come from
Who play the fife and bang the drum
And boldly up the street they come…
Butchers apron in the wind flying
Being called “Orange B******s” and “Scum”
As to walk the Queens highway they are trying.
I saw a little… I saw all
A white backed mural on a gable wall
Not a pleasant area it I would call
That would give its youth some hope
And so they like their forefathers fall
Into hatred: shouting “F**k the Pope”
Maybe yet on a day to arrive
Though by then I probably wont be alive
If tolerance can grow and survive
Both Gael and Scot
Shall help this nation heal bond and thrive…
Though perhaps not.