{"id":2193,"date":"2015-08-12T19:07:43","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T19:07:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/?p=2193"},"modified":"2015-08-12T19:13:21","modified_gmt":"2015-08-12T19:13:21","slug":"portrait-of-the-poet-as-a-not-so-young-man","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/portrait-of-the-poet-as-a-not-so-young-man\/","title":{"rendered":"Portrait of the Poet as a Not So Young Man"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/a>
The portrait above was drawn a few days ago on Shop Street in Galway by a talented artist from Melbourne… on looking at it after I thought of the title of the play “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man” and thought of a melancholic twist to that as I reflected on the past few years which have been eventful to say the least. Life takes its toll…<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In slow distaste
\nI fold my towel with what grace I can,
\nNot young, and not renewable, but man
\n~ Thomas Kinsella “Mirror in February”<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The white hair, welcome, comes in greater numbers
\nNo matter or not if the welcome is there
\nThe black gives way to a growing grey
\nThe hair that once was fair.<\/p>\n

The fair gave way to a darkening brown
\nThat became black as a boy became a man
\nCutting downly dark stubble from a teenage chin
\nWith a clumsiness never lost as only a young man can.<\/p>\n

I sat upon a stool on a Galway street
\nA wandering artist warts and all drew
\nPortrait of a poet he only knew as a stranger, a man
\nWords spoken between artists of different mediums were few.<\/p>\n

Both men masters of the pen
\nIn their own mind: let others the truth declare
\nI’d sat before on a Faro street
\nFor another wandering artist there.<\/p>\n

I, younger, looked on life with ambition and hope
\nDifficulty was opportunity, to be fought
\nI worn, broken, repaired again by life
\nThis time I solace from lifes trials sought.<\/p>\n

The hair gets lighter, the heart heavier
\nEach cut of life’s trials makes man weak
\nHe who once the dance of life pursued
\nNow the couch and sleep does seek.<\/p>\n

Am I old before my time
\nOr is this passing weariness a phase
\nA rest needed before the fight, the dance, anew
\nTo be prepared for during these melancholic days?<\/p>\n

The fields beyond the river are not green
\nMake the most of where you are while you can
\nThinks the poet, pondering the losses of what was fought for all those years
\nAs the artist draws a portrait of the poet as a not so young man<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In slow distaste I fold my towel with what grace I can, Not young, and not renewable, but man ~ Thomas Kinsella “Mirror in February” The white hair, welcome, comes in greater numbers No matter or not if the welcome is there The black gives way to a growing grey …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[1160,10,982,65,2072,2326],"class_list":["post-2193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","tag-age","tag-aging","tag-inspiration","tag-life-2","tag-reflection","tag-trials","column","twocol"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-zn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2191,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/double-dutch-and-gaelic-at-tin-jug-reading-in-birr-and-portrait-of-the-poet-as-a-not-young-man\/","url_meta":{"origin":2193,"position":0},"title":"Double Dutch and Gaelic at Tin Jug Reading in Birr and Portrait of the Poet as a Not Young Man","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"13th August 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It is not often you get to listen to verse in both Dutch and Gaelic, and the Fannings poetry night in The Tin Jug gallery in Birr as part of Vintage Week was priceless, to an intimate, captive, and participative audience. 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