{"id":1424,"date":"2012-01-28T23:48:41","date_gmt":"2012-01-28T23:48:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=1424"},"modified":"2015-01-28T23:49:52","modified_gmt":"2015-01-28T23:49:52","slug":"skopje-at-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/skopje-at-night\/","title":{"rendered":"Skopje At Night"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_3031\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3031\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-3031 \" alt=\"Skopje city at night\" src=\"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Skopje_at_Night.jpg\" width=\"600\" height=\"240\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3031\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Skopje city at night<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The ladies are very friendly<br \/>\nIn the carpark outside the hotel<br \/>\nIf your interested and have money<br \/>\nFor you all will be well&#8230;<br \/>\nI say no, ladies, not this time!<br \/>\nI wave, walk past with a smile<br \/>\nA trucker stops and whistles<br \/>\nThe girl to him goes for a while.<\/p>\n<p>Business it is booming<br \/>\nIn the market of sin&#8230;<br \/>\nThe global industry of all lands<br \/>\nThat silent thrives within<br \/>\nA cloak of official denial<br \/>\nWhere was she from? I do not know<br \/>\nPossibly from Albania or local<br \/>\nAs on to the kebab shop I go.<\/p>\n<p>I find one on a darkened corner<br \/>\nId never go to if at home&#8230;<br \/>\nBut I always go where the Romans go<br \/>\nWhen I find myself in Rome!<br \/>\nMaybe it was the air, I do not know,<br \/>\nBut greedily I grab<br \/>\nAnd enjoy as if the best steak it was<br \/>\nThis real Balkan Kebab&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>Back to the hotel past the university<br \/>\nI walk slowly to my hotel,<br \/>\nThe hookers are still doing business<br \/>\nOne waves as I pass: all is well.<br \/>\nA snapshot of a city,<br \/>\nThe cross on the hill looks down where I did walk<br \/>\nThe moon gazes over where I sleep<br \/>\nLoudly neath the window strangers talk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The ladies are very friendly In the carpark outside the hotel If your interested and have money For you all will be well&#8230; I say no, ladies, not this time! I wave, walk past with a smile A trucker stops and whistles The girl to him goes for a while. &#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":[82,83],"tags":[409,2347,160,13],"class_list":["post-1424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-balkan-odyssey","category-macedonia","tag-balkans","tag-macedonia","tag-skopje","tag-travel-2","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-mY","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1287,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/freedom-to-be-still-a-slave\/","url_meta":{"origin":1424,"position":0},"title":"Freedom &#8211; To Be Still a Slave","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"4th December 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Each man is free, so lucky is he To money to be, a slave so free... But he is not, let it not be forgot Master of his destiny, his lot... Before, his master, cruel, was Communism Today his master, unkind, is Capitalism Before, to speak was his fear Now,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Balkan Odyssey&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Balkan Odyssey","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/travel-poems\/balkan-odyssey\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Freedom monument in Skopje, Macedonia. Defaced with graffitti of a Dollar $ sign, it shows to me how the country is now a slave to capitalism, as bad a tyrant as communism.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Free-To-be-a-Slave-to-Money-220x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":92,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/mosque-unseen-until-heard\/","url_meta":{"origin":1424,"position":1},"title":"Mosque Unseen Until Heard","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"8th August 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The silence by a cry was broken The Muslim call to prayer Another one in the east echoed From the mosque over there... Standing perplexed Id forgotten This is the gateway of the east Where it holds hands with the west Land of the Imam and Priest. I walked the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Balkan Odyssey&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Balkan Odyssey","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/travel-poems\/balkan-odyssey\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3171,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/this-could-be-ireland-through-which-im-passing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1424,"position":2},"title":"This Could Be Ireland Through Which Im Passing","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"24th September 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On a train journey from Macedonia into Serbia back in 2010, at the border crossing we entered the Presevo Valley. Reflecting on the Albanian wars in the region, I wrote this Haiku sequence. Low mountains, green fields: This, it could be Ireland Through which I am passing. Children herding cows:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Balkan Odyssey&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Balkan Odyssey","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/travel-poems\/balkan-odyssey\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"View from a Train Carraige of the Presevo Valley","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/View-from-a-Train-Carraige-of-the-Presevo-Valley.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/View-from-a-Train-Carraige-of-the-Presevo-Valley.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/View-from-a-Train-Carraige-of-the-Presevo-Valley.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/View-from-a-Train-Carraige-of-the-Presevo-Valley.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/old-soviet-trains-in-macedonia\/","url_meta":{"origin":1424,"position":3},"title":"Old Soviet Trains in Macedonia","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"9th August 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Before only seen on the television While watching James Bond on TV Now the English speaking stranger Is no secret agent, far less glamorous, it is me\u2026 In this land that is modernising fast Little of the soviet time remains\u2026 But a remnant still working of the former days Are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Balkan Odyssey&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Balkan Odyssey","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/travel-poems\/balkan-odyssey\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4857,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/sitting-shoreside-by-nabelwy-lake\/","url_meta":{"origin":1424,"position":4},"title":"Sitting Shoreside by Nabelwy Lake","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"30th November 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking back through photos, a shot of Lough Nabelwy reminded me of one of my favourite walks in North Longford, and of other travels. No matter how exotic where we travel to, there truly is nowhere like home, especially in these concerning times. Shoreside by a Longford lake, Towards Leitrim\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Lesser Known Ireland&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Lesser Known Ireland","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/lesser-known-ireland\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lough Nabelwy looking towards the Leitrim bank from the Longford Bank","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.celtichosting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Lough-Nabelwy-looking-towards-the-Leitrim-bank-from-the-Longford-Bank-e1606699018677.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.celtichosting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Lough-Nabelwy-looking-towards-the-Leitrim-bank-from-the-Longford-Bank-e1606699018677.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.celtichosting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Lough-Nabelwy-looking-towards-the-Leitrim-bank-from-the-Longford-Bank-e1606699018677.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.celtichosting.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Lough-Nabelwy-looking-towards-the-Leitrim-bank-from-the-Longford-Bank-e1606699018677.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":251,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/a-woman-sweeping-passed-by-a-poet\/","url_meta":{"origin":1424,"position":5},"title":"A Woman Sweeping, Passed By A Poet","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"14th April 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Her back to me as I passed by Her doorstep by her swept By a handbroom without a long handle Her home lovingly kept A scene that could be anywhere As it was where there I walked And her back was to me To her when passing, not I talked\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Balkan Odyssey&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Balkan Odyssey","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/travel-poems\/balkan-odyssey\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424","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=1424"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1425,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1424\/revisions\/1425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}