JANUARY STATEMENT.

January Statement......My goal for 2019 is to write 365 poems.
In January I have posted 30 but I have vwritten one poem I
am entering it in a competiyion so I have met my goal.

Block©2019TonyFallon0131

Block©2019TonyFallon0131

If you are going to write poetry you must prepare

Get the pen and paper and sit down on the chair

It would help if you had a dictionary on site

And there is no one else around and it’s quiet

The next problem facing you is the subject

Something with which you can easily connect

We don’t want you writing something really weird

Or picking people who will be unnecessarily smeared

The pages in the trash is now considerable

And you are feeling quite miserable

Your poem will probably be tagged anonymous

Or some word that with anonymous is synonymous

Luck or Not©2019TonyFallon0130

Luck or Not©2019TonyFallon0130

Would you rater your success came from hard and honest toil

or owning hundreds of stocks in I.B.M. or Mobil oil?
The longer and harder people work the luckier they get 
The luckier people get the more of their friends they forget 
But if you invest in lotteries then it is purely chance
That you will one day find yourself up in the high finance
bracket. The millions in prizes is dangled for the greedy
Would be more productive with smaller prizes to help the needy
If I was lucky enough to win it once that would suffice
Yet you often see people lucky enough to win it twice
Should you win and be the recipient of much prosperity
I hope you know by now you can't keep this great luck hush-hush
And you had better be prepared for the oncoming crush
You'll have a line outside your door for donations to charity
If I was seriously planning my financial stability
Would I be lucky enough to buck the odds of probability

The storyteller ©2019TonyFallon0128

The storyteller ©2019TonyFallon0128

My real name is Tony O'Fallon and I'm an Irish Feller

Everybody knows an Irishman sings or is a storyteller

We can tell you sad or scary stories that will reduce you to tears

Or scary ones about my grandfather who is dead for twenty years

My father could tell the wildest lies imagined that was his style

I think he believed half of them himself he never cracked a smile

One night sixty years ago he told a neighbor a big one after work

And I had to tell him the truth last year when he visited New York

He acted like he had been betrayed but maybe he was having me on

Maybe this is a story I'm making up, but you can't check he's gone

Most of the stories we tell each other are designed to bring a laugh

And you'd have a full-time job in Ireland if you owned a polygraph

Most of the comical stories are told after a big pint of beer

And even though you didn't like scary stories still they'd persevere

If you think the beer stories are mean don't wait ‘till he drinks poteen

And starts talking about the leprechaun with the portable guillotine

My specialty is telling stories about the banshee's lonely chilling cry

Which sounds like many cats fighting, and means you are going to die

People who believe in the banshee lead lives that are tormented

After horrific dreams of dying they wake up disoriented

Another contentious issue in Ireland was the weeping statues

Often found not too far from bars where they were promoting booze

Other strange occurrences are saints and heavenly apparitions

Seen by children who are late for school, so I have my suspicions

I often woke up myself on peaceful nights and heard strange noises

And from the closet in my sister's room heard very strange voices

Some ghosts come and go and are very rarely naughty or malicious

Others come back as big black dogs and can be snarly and vicious

No matter where you go there are odd people who could be possessed

The ghosts dwindled when electricity finally came to the west

You can be a non-believer and declare ghosts could not exist

Why can't the souls of dead relatives live peacefully in our midst?

Some of the ghosts in Irish stories are peaceful and not evil

But people won't walk certain roads alone in case they'd meet the devil

The 3 Sisters©2019TonyFallon0125

The 3 Sisters©2019TonyFallon0125

Three lonely elderly sisters lived together in England in Kent
A divorcée, a widow and a spinster between them not one gent
The house was bigger than they needed yet was a nice arrangement
Expenses were equally shared but there wasn't much entertainment

Three women living alone in a house can be scary and fretful
No memories were getting better and they often were forgetful
While none of them would admit it freely there were signs of amnesia
The oldest never went upstairs she had a slight case of akinesia 

One day the youngest Julie was standing naked in the upper bathroom
She couldn't remember if she had bathed or not or what she should resume
After a few minutes thinking she called down for her middle sister
To come upstairs to straighten things out and hopefully assist her

Halfway up the stairway Anne looked out the gable window pane
And saw her beautiful garden patch being tore up by a big Great Dane
She opens up the window and starts a blue tirade like a demagogue 
The Great Dance slings away in fear this is no courageous kind of a dog

After this excitement she's half way up the stairs and in a quandary
She can't remember if she's going up to help or down for the laundry
She knew Kay in the kitchen would set her straight without being offensive
While Julie was always picking on her forcing her to be defensive

Kay said you can't remember a thing you are doing it's like second childhood
One of you is more forgetful than the other not like me I'll knock on wood
(KnockKnock)
Are you going to stand all night on the stairs or come down to this floor?
You know I can't walk very fast and somebody just knocked on the door

Irish Weather ©2019TonyFallon0124

Irish Weather ©2019TonyFallon0124

I'm writing of Irish weather I've nothing else to write about
When I was growing up in Roscommon we rarely had a drought
Although I do remember once when Ballyglass Lake went dry
And we walked the cattle to Lake Funshinagh or they would all die

Because of the two lakes being so near and a good few spring wells
No one thought of building storage tanks to take care of the dry spells
There would be men visiting wells with barrels in the horses cart
And the owner wanting to keep the water telling them to depart

My father was always looking for water to mix with the cement
Many of the well owners needing his help would finally relent
Then he started building tanks for us and we all had to pitch in
When he finished we had three even one above the back kitchen

I remember going to mass in John Joe Fallon's pony and trap
It was wide open to the elements with neither sides nor a cap
You'd be freezing in the winter, early spring and late in the fall
And after a cold shower you wouldn't want the wet blanket or shawl

Everybody has a story about floods in fields and ice on lanes
And snow so heavy in forty seven they could not run the trains
The priest led prayer one week for rain the next for the sun to shine
The farmers must often be down in the dumps other times on cloud nine

Some times after heavy rain and heat at night there would be thick fog
That's the night you'd meet Mary the Ghost on the road walking her dog
Everybody is an expert when talking weather and climate
And I should write more about the latter but I cannot rhyme it.

Last night©2019TonyFallon01222

Last night©2019TonyFallon01222

I had very few plans for last night I had nothing on my mind
I was tired from shoveling all the past weekends snow
I was getting spots in front of me I thought I was going blind
The snow was now in drifts as the north wind continued to blow
All the boys in the neighborhood had gathered and combined
To build the finest snowman, he won't melt it's five below

But I was not prepared for this night when I got home at five o'clock
The temperature was way under normal so cold it caused a shock
I checked out the thermostat it was a little below fifty degrees
It would need to be at least fifteen degrees more or in bed I'd freeze 

I went down to the basement to check out my trusty oil boiler
The third zone pump was not operating properly that was a spoiler
That zone is controlled by two thermostats so I made an alteration
I changed them to manual instead of being controlled by automation 

With the help of an electric heater I got some fitful sleep
Intending to take care of it today hoping the repair would be cheap
Somehow or other the machine is now working and I'm toasty and warn
So last night will be just a memory of this January winter storm

School Days©2019TonyFallon0120

School Days©2019TonyFallon0120

I remember walking to Rahara School and it was all uphill
In Kelly's field in spring there was many a daffodil
From the top of Sean Doyle's field there was a great view
I could see Slieve Bawn mountain if the sky was blue
I could also see the Cromleck with its ancient monoliths
Which was haunted by ghosts and other old wives myths
Sheeegith was incomparable when the furze were in bloom
I'm sure the mound on the top was some old king's tomb
That was a time when farmers field were as small as a plot
Yet needed to grow enough potatoes to fill the pig's pot
Some fields might be surrounded by ditches made of clay
But it might be stones surrounding the fields which grew hay
I could see below me many fields of oats and wheat
That's when the farmers used to sow what he was going to eat
To the south was Lough Funshinagh full of eel and pike
Sure I wouldn't see such beauty if I rode to school by bike
From bird's nests and ewes and lambs and cattle grazing
The amount of raw nature around me was truly amazing
I walked though many farms but not through oats or hay
Yet the farmer couldn't block me I had a legal right of way
Going from farm to farm there would be bushes in the gaps
And if you arrived late for school you'd get a couple of slaps
The farther you get from home the more your heart is pining
And you only remember days in Ireland when the sun was shining

The Snow©2019TonyFallon0119.

The Snow©2019TonyFallon0119.

The snow is falling heavily without any noise
We will get a lot tonight and this is no surprise
For a week now our overhead cover has been laden skies
And the locals have lain in many weeks of supplies
All this anxious shopping has been accomplished by the wives
Making sure if there's an emergency everyone survives
All this extra stocking food leaves the family short of cash
And if we lose electricity it winds up in the trash
We have been promised this monster snow storm now for weeks
It's the topic of conversation everybody speaks
The Government has been closed for weeks and no one cares
They buy salt, gloves and shovels as everyone prepares
On TV they enjoy bad predictions and we are trusting
Often they are totally wrong and we just get a dusting
But alas that's not the case an inch will be the hourly rate
A coating of ten to fourteen is the total estimate.

I’m still learning©TonyFallon0119

I’m still learning©TonyFallon0119

I’m seventy four and still on my feet

I have only one desire

I want to be considered totally complete

Before I expire

I seem to know about face book

And also about YouTube

I can put the phone back on the hook

And I can change channels on the boob

I use the remote to record old shows

On VCR or on a DVD

And with a camera I never overexpose

When I’m taking pictures of me

I want to stay current up with all the trends

I know how copy and paste

If you look me up you’ll see I have many friends

Should you un friend  me I’d be disgraced

I long ago mastered the reel to reel

And a headphone I can use on my ear

I have copies of Elvis and Willie and Neal

To die unable to tweet is now my greatest fear

January 2019©2019TonyFallon0118

January 2019©2019TonyFallon0118

The lines will soon get deeper
Then the rich will join the poor
The Coast Guard and the sweeper
While other live in grandeur 

When did people work for free?
Or think they would not be paid 
They thought it's a guarantee
How they now must feel betrayed

Weekends spent on golf courses
In far exotic places 
Sending the US armed forces
sadness on children's faces

Most borders are open wide
And people are not opposed
Entries processed to reside
But America is closed

Take it Back©2019TonyFallon0116

Take it Back©2019TonyFallon0116

Yesterday with my niece I came to open my hardware store
There was a man I had never seen before waiting at the door

I told him not to step inside until I'd turned off the alarms
I knew immediately this man was up in arms

I said "no way” to his request for a refund
He glared at me threateningly and seemed a little stunned
He nastily said "Why can't you just take it back?"
"First of all because the proper receipt you lack"
The box was all torn and it was not  properly packed
I don't know where he bought it and that was a fact
The nasty words he said next made me more resistant
He swore he bought it last week from my assistant
I told him to stop shouting at me and be quieter 
As I have no assistant I'm the sole proprietor 
I didn't tell him this I was going to have some fun
And he'd be sorry he came in before I was done
No matter how much he threatened not an inch I would budge
He said “Ok I'll see you next week in court before the judge”
I said “why wait so long for this costly legalese
Why don't you go to the barracks and find the police”
He came later with a Trooper the same as an Irish Guard
He said "this man has a problem and you are treating him hard
His wife bought this yesterday he wants a credit on his card"
I said "he's a good for nothing liar from this store I want him barred
I never stock Chinese garbage like that and it was never mine
His wife probably bought it up the street and now he stands here lying
Actually I want him arrested for disturbing my peace
And for using foul language and terrifying my little niece "
The Trooper said "now Tony I don't think he set out to commit fraud
It would be better if we forgot this happened in the name of God".

Selling my car©2019TonyFallon0115

Selling my car©2019TonyFallon0115

I’ll be selling my car as you see it without any guarantees

There’s fluid in the transmission it’s filled up with antifreeze

It does not have an alarm but I do have two extra keys

I’ve had the car now for the last fourteen years

It’s not standard shift it has automatic gears

I’ve had girls in the back seat and we drank many beers

I’ve hauled home piles of wood and bags of coal

And once I broke the steering in a big pothole

To the vet I once brought a sickly two day old foal

That day they pulled me in for speeding

The speed limit I definitely was exceeding

And he let me go because of my pleading

I told the trooper I was on my way to the vet

I originally bought it for cash so I was never in debt

I never put a CD in I still have the original cassette

The wheels are originals but it has four brand new tires

The plugs were never a problem it might need new wires

It always passed inspection but the sticker soon expires

It never broke down on me so it never was towed

It took me every where I wanted even when it snowed

They use an awful amount of salt so there’s some corrode

It’s a good old sturdy car that’ll get you where you are going

If you’ll be travelling in summer it’s strong enough for towing

And it’s as solid as a rock even when a gale is blowing

It has about one hundred and twenty eight thousand miles

And on the dashboard I installed all those extra dials

And in the trunk there a whole case of many different oils

I’m not a greedy man I think my asking price is right  

Usually if women and I disagree I tell them fly a kite

But if you insult me motor car I tell you go and s***e

Bitter©2019TonyFallon0115

Bitter©2019TonyFallon0115

It's hard to see you being bitter
But, you are also depressed
I never thought you were a quitter
Are all thoughts repressed?

I've never seen you so unhappy
And you know how much I care
Your answers are so snappy
You must back out this despair

Seeing you so, causes me much grief
My offers are rejected
You act like you don't want relief
Your great wall is now erected

You do not want me to enter
Its like a fog I cannot penetrate
You do not want me as a mentor
I just cannot resonate

Is the problem work or the bedroom
Is it your boss or your great love?
Is it worse that I assume?
Is it none of the above

In the past there was none so sweet
You could laugh so hearty
But now you've accepted defeat
No more do you want to party

Being Crabby©2019TonyFallon0114

Being Crabby©2019TonyFallon0114

There is nothing wrong with being crabby
You can write a letter to Dear Abbey
Maybe you have once more been misled
Maybe you are taking the wrong med
Do you think that your boyfriend cheats?
Are there messages he deletes?
Are you in a double bed alone?
Is he in another with your cousin Joan? 
There is nothing wrong with being crabby 
You could write a letter to Dear Abbey

At work do you feel you are being ignored?
The one with the mini skirt is being adored
Did you have problems with your mother?
Did you have problems with your brother?
Did you never take ballet classes?

Did you never wear opera glasses?

Did the teacher predict you'd never succeed?
Did you experiment with LSD or weed?
If living life in general is causing stress
And severely affecting you health and success
There is nothing wrong with being crabby 
You should write a letter to Dear Abbey

Is the music upstairs always too loud?
Are you intimidated in a crowd?
Did your date for your graduation

Forget to buy you a white carnation

Are you afraid in the subway or in a car?
Do you think everybody else is a bit bizarre?
If people sneeze will you catch bacteria?
Because you never got injected for diphtheria
When things go wrong do you feel the guilt?
When people get angry do you start to wilt?
Then there is nothing wrong with being crabby
But you must write a letter to Dear Abbey

Old Times©2019TonyFallon0113

Old Times©2019TonyFallon0113

The long and winding road

Was straightened long ago

And is now up to code

Between Galway and Mayo

We had the seven sisters

Now it’s down to four

They now are sweeping twisters

Down by Finnegan’s store

They took stone from quarries

They took stones from sheds

Loaded them in Lorries

Made them road beds

The roads from the Suir to the Lee

Are memories of the past

And you can drive from A to B

Nearly twice as fast

There are no more ass cart tracks

Outside our old abode

Or on the cul-de-sacs

Or the old bog road

The Dealer©TonyFallon0112

The Dealer©TonyFallon0112

I met a man the other night who had just been paroled
He was caught in a sting when our block was being patrolled 
Since he'd served his sentence he hoped to get back into the fold
So in a drug treatment plan he had just recently enrolled

I asked him if he was a part time user or he also sold
He opened up his mouth and pointing asked "how did I get this gold?"
He got the drugs wholesale and marked them up from six to tenfold
He said before he was busted on our block he had a foothold

I don't think there was a plan invented could keep him controlled
He probably was an offender not needing to be consoled
He will probably be in an early grave never to grow old
I think the courts made a big mistake when this man was paroled

Moses©2019TonyFallon0111

Moses©2019TonyFallon0111

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai he acted like a sod
He broke the Ten Commandments tablets given to him by God
He had told God his loyal flock were now totally controlled
But there was sinning and adoring with a calf made of gold

This bunch needed many commandments yet ten was all he brought
They were into sex gambling and drinking and many more fought
He had put up with pestilence including frogs, fleas and mice
And now because he broke the tablets had to climb the mountain twice

So Moses made the return journey up the mountain once again
And promised God he'd try his best to keep this bunch out of sin
He also asked God if his people would get out of servitude
God said in good time didn't I send you manna when you needed food

Moses said for forty years they'd been promised milk and honey
All they got was lack of water and weather that was too sunny
In those forty years there was no rain and only once was there hail
Every time they made a break the Egyptian army was on their tail
God said take these and let's have a little more prayer and devotion
Thanks would be appreciated for opening up the Red ocean

Moses at this time was eighty and yet things were going to worsen
He'd have to wander around forty more years as a homeless person
He did so much wandering in the desert he was fed up with sand
He couldn't get water from a rock and never saw the Promised Land

The Good Old Days©2019TonyFallon0110.

The Good Old Days©2019TonyFallon0110.

I remember walking to Roscommon town once or twice
That possibly was because I had no two wheeled device
That wasn't a journey you'd be looking forward to with thrills
It was at least eight miles each way and there were many hills 
We did not live on a mountain but it was not the plains
And coming to our village there were no buses or trains
I'd be talking now about nineteen fifty three or four
I'd be going most likely for comics in Higgins' store
I'd spend time in the library reading Anderson books
Or cowboys and Indians and big sheriffs shooting crooks
The cars in our parish were run by farmers and the priest
I don't know if they owned them outright or they had them leased
They must have owned them all outright no car was impounded
If that happened to the teacher we'd have been astounded
As a teenage I was healthy and in tip top physique 
To school and working I cycled a hundred miles a week
Between school and work that was more than five years pedaling 
I cycled twenty five thousand miles that is unsettling
You can tell youth of past hardships with sayings and cliches
I doubt you can convince them that those were "the good old days"

Language©2019TonyFallon0109

Language©2019TonyFallon0109

A stranger said to me can you correctly manifest?  

I pretended I knew but I never would have guessed

However that ignorance began to manifest itself plainly

He couldn’t give the correct answer though he tried vainly

I found out very quickly he did not know himself defacto

And he could not give me a proper explanation exacto

I think this man will be more careful with his mumbo jumbo

It’s better to know foreign language than sound like a Dumbo

The Big Game©2019TonyFallon0109

The Big Game©2019TonyFallon0109

I was togged out at full forward for the Roscommon team
I shot a rasper towards the goal fell down and got up slowly
The ball was in the back of the net so was the Dublin goalie

We were not the least bit intimidated by our more famous hosts
The ball hopped our way once or twice and we were saved by the posts
We went after every breaking ball like a pack of hungry dogs
Nobody on the team was afraid to get grass stains on his togs

 When the half time whistle blew we were ahead by six points

Dublin was going to lose the crown to us Connaught giants
As we trooped off the field at half time the cheering started to grow
It looked like for the Dublin team there would be no five in a row
During the second half we dominated and points I now had nine
I was having a field day out on the left with free balls from the line
I thought I was getting a penalty but the umpires did not agree
But I promptly got an important point from the resultant free
We were like a well oiled machine and us forwards oft combined
We kept the umpires busy with flags and we never fell behind
This would be our day to remember two greats Dermot and Gerry
For we had already taken care of Mayo Tyrone and Kerry
I was thinking my picture would be in the papers in the morning
And after waiting seventy years there would be no more mourning
There would be more delight in Kiltoom than the visit of DeValera
And I'd be the toast for weeks in Knockcroghery St John's and Rahara

But as they scored some points and got close it became intense
And sometimes all fifteen of us were back there on defense
Two points down with seconds to go they were desperate for a goal
A shot from the full forward took the paint off the wrong side of the pole
I really enjoyed that All Ireland final....alas it was a dream