You couldn’t wait © Tony Fallon082617

You couldn’t wait © Tony Fallon082617

You told me that you couldn’t wait not even for two years

As I was headed off to America with sad and lonely tears

When you told me that at Shannon I really was badly shaken

I asked you to repeat what you had said in case I was mistaken

With most of my money spent on the ticket I just could not perceive

That you were blackmailing me with an offer to marry you or leave

I know your mothers kept reminding you about being left on the shelf

With all her children married except your brother Tommy and yourself

Your parents and mine are old and grey bent over stiff and sore

I didn’t want the life of a farmer but to earn money and open a store

The life of the small farmer is over you can’t even cut your own turf

And you can’t make a living catching crabs or any other fish in the surf

You knew I didn’t have the kind of money for a respectable life

And I wouldn’t think of marrying you if I couldn’t support a wife

Our old house you wanted to move into has no plumbing or heat

With a Rayburn in the kitchen which is practically obsolete

I would never ask you to sacrifice my heart would be full of guilt

We should very seriously consider having another house built

But to build a house of substance would require mortgages and grants

Or borrowing a whole lot of money from all our uncles and aunts

You can’t live on dreams or the truest love everybody knows

When children begin to arrive you need money for shoes and clothes

I didn’t want to have children always one check away from starvation

I wanted them to be independent with a decent secondary education

I had seven long hours to ponders on my very first trip to the states

I knew by the time I landed I would never marry a woman who dictates

Getting off the plane I felt weary as I thought of my shattered hopes

Luckily I had my brother and sister before me to show me the ropes

I got work in construction and I was making a decent amount

I went to the bank and I opened my very first savings account

Every morning at 7 o’clock I am ready for my daily tasks

And I say I came over from Sligo in Ireland if anybody asks

Then I met a girl from Canada who was half protestant and half Jew

And I had more fun in two weeks with her than I had in years with you

She loved to read or hear my poetry and listen to my sad Irish tales

We went together to Karaoke and an auction and a good few Garage Sales

She has beauty and wit and a wisdom that belied her young age

We talked about each others life openly helping me release all my rage

Not one thing was off the table religion and politics were discussed

But the one thing she kept repeating was me to once more learn to trust

What a wonderful companion she was even though her time here was short

She didn’t need me as much I needed her and she gave me plenty of support

She said that love is like a flower watered by teardrops since it was a seed

But sometimes the prettiest flower can flourish right next to a weed

It’s been two long years now since your position you clearly expressed

There has been no letters or phone calls so I guess it was not done in jest

I’ve sent a bit of money home to my father the foundation is already set

And another year here in New York the house will be built without debt

I met a young one here from Mayo she’s fed up of all the New York strife

She said she’d live with me forever in Sligo and be a good mother and wife