{"id":1125,"date":"2012-11-15T00:51:03","date_gmt":"2012-11-15T00:51:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=1125"},"modified":"2014-11-15T00:53:32","modified_gmt":"2014-11-15T00:53:32","slug":"i-have-not-seen-what-my-father-saw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/i-have-not-seen-what-my-father-saw\/","title":{"rendered":"I Have Not Seen What My Father Saw"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_1126\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1126\" style=\"width: 296px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/dadnmam.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/dadnmam.jpg\" alt=\"Mam and dad in the last photo we have of them together in 2006. \" width=\"296\" height=\"190\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1126\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-1126\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mam and dad in the last photo we have of them together in 2006.<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\nI have seen not what my father saw<br \/>\nI have not ploughed the land<br \/>\nOr made a ruin into a home<br \/>\nWith mortar mixed by hand.<\/p>\n<p>I have not herded beasts through fields<br \/>\nI have not built stone walls<br \/>\nOr drew turf from peat bogs<br \/>\nAnd listened to curlews calls.<\/p>\n<p>I have not crossed the border there<br \/>\nTo a North of Ireland town<br \/>\nAnd stocked up on tea and butter<br \/>\nTo the South to bring down.<\/p>\n<p>Ive not faced the customs man<br \/>\nAnd passed him with a bribe<br \/>\nOr gave poteen to the Guardai<br \/>\nFor I am but a scribe.<\/p>\n<p>Those days are gone when all was good<br \/>\nThat was a little underhand<br \/>\nWithout being anyway criminal<br \/>\nPeople today don&#8217;t understand.<\/p>\n<p>In a land of Celtic Tiger<br \/>\nWe&#8217;ve lost the days of old<br \/>\nAnd all my father seen and went through<br \/>\nAre now but stories to be told.<\/p>\n<p>Sure life indeed is better now<br \/>\nOr so by those in power say<br \/>\nBut are we any happier<br \/>\nThan they were in their day?<\/p>\n<p>They had little in their time<br \/>\nBut they could always cope<br \/>\nThere was always tomorrow:<br \/>\nSo there was always hope!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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. &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,23],"tags":[1267,1268,156,65,1270,1269,1271],"class_list":["post-1125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-family-stories","category-north-longford","tag-augahgreagh","tag-blackwater-bog","tag-family","tag-life-2","tag-poteen","tag-shannon-bridge","tag-smuggling","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-i9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2597,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/plain-of-the-kings-of-irelands-past\/","url_meta":{"origin":1125,"position":0},"title":"Plain of the Kings of Irelands Past","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"13th March 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Some people wonder why I am so into supporting the turf cutters rights. My dad worked Blackwater Bog, where the order came through to work on through and ignore the stone and iron age roads and weapons that were found in a cultural massacre to rival Wood Quay. No fan\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Current Affairs in Ireland&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Current Affairs in Ireland","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/ireland\/current-affairs-in-ireland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"My father worked Blackwater Bog where many stone age and prehistoric items and roads were found. \"Work on, if the archaeologists come it will be shut down and you will all be out wages\" came the order - not in writing of cource - from the offices of a semi state agency, a compatriot of which hyprocritically is stopping private people cutting bogs \"to save our culture\" ignorant or silent of the history that was willingly destroyed for profit a mere 30 years before...","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/Blackwater-Bog-in-Shannonbridge-during-the-1980s.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3677,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/long-walk-in-edenmore-bog\/","url_meta":{"origin":1125,"position":1},"title":"Long Walk in Edenmore Bog","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"21st April 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Walking the bog in Longford brought this reflection on life to mind - a rare nonrhyming poem from me! Walking the long way home Brought me to a beauty That I had not seen for years... Having not walked this path Meaning to do so later When weathers better... or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Environment&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Environment","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/environment\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stack of turf in Edenmore Bog with Cairn Hill in background in North Longford","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Stack-of-turf-in-Edenmore-Bog-with-Cairn-Hill-in-background-in-North-Longford.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":448,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/as-they-lay-him-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":1125,"position":2},"title":"As They Lay Him Down","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"12th December 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"As they lay him down... Madiba... Let them not forget, Forgiveness, what he though them, For hatred, now subdued, can yet, Tear the Rainbow Nation apart, Hatred of other tribes and of Whites, We seen enough of that elsewhere already, On our screens on the news at nights... And heard\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;North Longford&quot;","block_context":{"text":"North Longford","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/north-longford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Nelson Mandela- set to be buried in South Africa, let us hope the country learns from his leadership, and does not descend into the warfare either on a large or small scale as Ireland did on independence.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Nelson-Mandelas-Coffin-ahead-of-his-burial-in-South-Africa.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Nelson-Mandelas-Coffin-ahead-of-his-burial-in-South-Africa.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Nelson-Mandelas-Coffin-ahead-of-his-burial-in-South-Africa.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Nelson-Mandelas-Coffin-ahead-of-his-burial-in-South-Africa.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":363,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/walking-the-bog\/","url_meta":{"origin":1125,"position":3},"title":"Walking the Bog","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"18th August 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"When young, or younger for I still am young I thought that my future it was to be As it was then for my father Upon the bog, working, laying rails like he For locos of peat going to power the station Summer after summer in the searing heat Sundays\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Austerity&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Austerity","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/austerity\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/The-Offaly-Way.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/The-Offaly-Way.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/The-Offaly-Way.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/The-Offaly-Way.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4575,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/folk-of-the-land-of-the-whin\/","url_meta":{"origin":1125,"position":4},"title":"Folk of the Land of the Whin","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"3rd December 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"From where to the world's four corners spread All desire to, but few manage to return To children tales told, songs sung its said For deep within a fire does burn A sense of place, of people, who we are Our history, our culture we pass on To those after\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;\"Home Made\" Anthology&quot;","block_context":{"text":"\"Home Made\" Anthology","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/bibliography\/home-made-anthology\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bog at Edenmore, Ballinamuck, Co. Longford - many rebels of the 1798 Rebellion perished here while more used the cover to escape.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/20150318_141658-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/20150318_141658-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/20150318_141658-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5048,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/blackbirds-at-ballinamuck-sing-in-the-trees\/","url_meta":{"origin":1125,"position":5},"title":"Blackbirds at Ballinamuck Sing in The Trees","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"3rd September 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"The blackbirds at Ballinamuck sing among the trees Where the rebels, prone, were slain, English cavalry chased through where horses could run To kill the walking wounded who remain. It was Irelands 'Field of Blackbirds', Inspiring folk to fight to this day and for coming days... Both sides look back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;1798 Rebellion&quot;","block_context":{"text":"1798 Rebellion","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/irelands-wars\/1798-rebellion\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Edenmore Bog looking to Arvagh in Cavan","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Edenmore-Bog-looking-to-Arvagh-in-Cavan.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Edenmore-Bog-looking-to-Arvagh-in-Cavan.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Edenmore-Bog-looking-to-Arvagh-in-Cavan.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Edenmore-Bog-looking-to-Arvagh-in-Cavan.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Edenmore-Bog-looking-to-Arvagh-in-Cavan.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Edenmore-Bog-looking-to-Arvagh-in-Cavan.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1127,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1125\/revisions\/1127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}