I stood and watched by a lake
\nBirds fly overhead
\nA lone swallow took a swoop
\nOver graves of the dead
\nWho for centuries have lain
\nTheir corpses long time rotton
\nThier kith and kin dead like them too
\nAll hands long forgotton.<\/p>\n
Before me the waters rippled
\nAs fish broke the surface for fly
\nFor the fish beneath to live
\nThe insect above must die.
\nSuch is life: circle of life and death
\nSo many million before us did pass,
\nAnd lived and dies in horrid ways
\nBuried without ceremony, service or mass.<\/p>\n
All in our time we will die,
\nOf our being will not be known
\nEven our tombstones will decay
\nThat our names on will have shown,
\nOf one thing, that we are certain
\nThat is life, things be as they should,
\nMan rich and poor are but to be food for maggots
\nTo be so is natural and good.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I stood and watched by a lake Birds fly overhead A lone swallow took a swoop Over graves of the dead Who for centuries have lain Their corpses long time rotton Thier kith and kin dead like them too All hands long forgotton. Before me the waters rippled As fish …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[155],"tags":[641,640,508],"class_list":["post-414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-death","tag-observation","tag-passing-of-life","tag-poem-on-death","column","twocol"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7EI4f-6G","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":907,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/elegy-for-neda-soltani\/","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":0},"title":"Elegy for Neda Soltani","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"22nd October 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"She died on video before my eyes... She just lay there dying She uttered not a cry It was all others around her crying It is but a day shes dead But now its not the same Yesterday she was an unknown girl Today she has a name Neda Soltani\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Iran"","block_context":{"text":"Iran","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/war-on-terror\/iran\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Iranian student Neda Soltani in her final moments","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Iranian-student-Neda-Soltani-in-her-final-moments.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Iranian-student-Neda-Soltani-in-her-final-moments.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Iranian-student-Neda-Soltani-in-her-final-moments.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Iranian-student-Neda-Soltani-in-her-final-moments.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4170,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/lusmagh-and-ireland-remember-those-who-died-for-ireland\/","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":1},"title":"Lusmagh and Ireland Remember Those Who Died for Ireland","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"11th November 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Manchester Martyrs Commemoration 26th November 2017, Birr, Co Offaly 150th anniversary That Lusmagh man, brave as they come As are the stock from where he was from They set their prisoners for to free On the streets on Manchester city Fate, as she does, dealt a cruel hand The constable\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Irelands Wars"","block_context":{"text":"Irelands Wars","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/irelands-wars\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Manchester Martyrs - Let Us Remember Them","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/23456632_10213478114881779_3426489592661376227_o-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/23456632_10213478114881779_3426489592661376227_o-1024x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/23456632_10213478114881779_3426489592661376227_o-1024x1024.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5115,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/a-nice-time-of-year-to-go\/","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":2},"title":"A Nice Time of Year to Go","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"27th October 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"A nice time of year to go - So long ago, like yesterday - When the veil of life was at its thinnest (As our people used to say) We like to think in musing thought He came back from the other side To take her in hand to bring\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "North Longford"","block_context":{"text":"North Longford","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/north-longford\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Memorial-Display.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Memorial-Display.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Memorial-Display.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Memorial-Display.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Memorial-Display.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Memorial-Display.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":4040,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/flickering-candles-foretell-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":3},"title":"Flickering Candles Foretell Death","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"6th October 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A tradition of foretelling a death from North Longford... From the Irish Folklore Commission In days gone by a tradition old Of which the Church condemns though what they are told By clergy the folk pay little heed For superstition and tradition they had a need And so together on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Death"","block_context":{"text":"Death","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/death\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dozen candles set un a dungpile - the first that went out said its owner would die within a year according to old Longford tradition","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Dozen-candles-set-un-a-dungpile-the-first-that-went-out-said-its-owner-would-die-within-a-year-according-to-old-Longford-tradition.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Dozen-candles-set-un-a-dungpile-the-first-that-went-out-said-its-owner-would-die-within-a-year-according-to-old-Longford-tradition.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Dozen-candles-set-un-a-dungpile-the-first-that-went-out-said-its-owner-would-die-within-a-year-according-to-old-Longford-tradition.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Dozen-candles-set-un-a-dungpile-the-first-that-went-out-said-its-owner-would-die-within-a-year-according-to-old-Longford-tradition.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/Dozen-candles-set-un-a-dungpile-the-first-that-went-out-said-its-owner-would-die-within-a-year-according-to-old-Longford-tradition.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":934,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/i-shall-prepare-a-feast-for-thousands-and-yet-never-grease-a-pan\/","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":4},"title":"I Shall Prepare a Feast For Thousands… And Yet Never Grease a Pan","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"25th October 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"A humersome yet morbid ghazal, for Halloween!!! All in the world around you is dead Or to you it appears to be dead Then life lurks somewhere under there Maggots: they live and thrive on the dead Bacterium's eat and love rotting flesh - They cannot survive without the dead\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Death"","block_context":{"text":"Death","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/category\/death\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3238,"url":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/worshiping-god-among-nature\/","url_meta":{"origin":414,"position":5},"title":"Worshiping God Among Nature","author":"Tom\u00e1s \u00d3 C\u00e1rthaigh","date":"23rd October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"We know of the mass rocks where Irish Catholics met to worship in Cromwellian and Penal times to avoid arrest or murder of the preist, but so it was in Holland for Protestants too under Spanish rule, where they met in the open in secret places to aviud been killed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"carraig an afrainn\"","block_context":{"text":"carraig an afrainn","link":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/tag\/carraig-an-afrainn\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Priestless Church - where illegal Protestant services held in Holland under Spanish rule akin to the Catholic Mass rocks of Ireland","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/The-Priestless-Church-where-illegal-Protestant-services-held-in-Holland-under-Spanish-rule-akin-to-the-Catholic-Mass-rocks-of-Ireland.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/The-Priestless-Church-where-illegal-Protestant-services-held-in-Holland-under-Spanish-rule-akin-to-the-Catholic-Mass-rocks-of-Ireland.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/The-Priestless-Church-where-illegal-Protestant-services-held-in-Holland-under-Spanish-rule-akin-to-the-Catholic-Mass-rocks-of-Ireland.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/The-Priestless-Church-where-illegal-Protestant-services-held-in-Holland-under-Spanish-rule-akin-to-the-Catholic-Mass-rocks-of-Ireland.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.writingsinrhyme.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/The-Priestless-Church-where-illegal-Protestant-services-held-in-Holland-under-Spanish-rule-akin-to-the-Catholic-Mass-rocks-of-Ireland.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414","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=414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":417,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414\/revisions\/417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/writingsinrhyme.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}