Love Forever©2019TonyFallon0429

My aunt died at 16 from acute appendicitis.

62 years later I met a man who went to

School with her. He was still single. He talked

So lovingly about her beauty and intelligence

 I didn’t need to ask any questions

Love Forever©2019TonyFallon0429

How long can a man love a woman?

Who died as a lovely colleen?

Who one day was healthy and hale

Next day was dead at sixteen

I met that man sixty years later

He still was feeling the shock

As he prepared to meet his creator

And hopefully join with God’s flock

I had tears in my eyes as he told me

“I’ve tried to forget her I can’t”

He was crying like the banshee

He was talking about my long dead aunt.

Praises©2019TonyFallon0426

Praises©2019TonyFallon0426

I want to sing some praises in this little poem
Of people off who wandered instead of staying home
The brave ones who fearlessly crossed the raging sea
When they could have stayed and lived at home carefree
But praise must belong to those with courage to venture
Who left comfort behind them for love and adventure

Conversations©2019TonyFallon0426

Conversations©2019TonyFallon0426

I wish I had conversations with someone else but me
Especially on a chilly morning at half past three
That's the time I have my conversations in my dreams
The sun is shining and you are alwys in its beams
But I'm the only one talking you are always quiet
No matter how much I prompt you that time of the night

High Hopes©2019TonyFallon0425

High Hopes©2019TonyFallon0425

The differences between us we can easily define
Our contrasts can be easily gauged by drawing a straight line
We can take your ideas and thoughts and put them on the right
And I will invalidate all of them without much delight
I know you know I know you never thought I was really smart
That was very evident by your actions from the very start 
Your father had called you princess even when you were a teen
And now that you have grown up you are acting bossy like a queen

I will not discuss or argue with you about sex or politics
I do not care whether you worship the devil or the crucifix
I don't care if you think of me as a genius or a simple clod
I disagree that our children will be spoiled by sparing the rod
I never hit the children for any reason to prove who's the boss
And I strongly suggest to you, you cut back on the liquid sauce
You do not have all the answers but you have hostility
It's not our faulty you didn't get farther with your ability

I knew the day we had married in the crowd there were high hopes
And we got a great start with all the family’s envelopes
Little did I know how much your family would interfere
And stick their noses into our home life and my humble career
I'm just a simple fellow who never tried too hard to impress
I didn't want to live a hermits life at a pompous address
It would be best for all of us if I went off and lived alone
But I will stick it out right here until the children are grown

After the Alphabet©2019TonyFallon0415

After the Alphabet©2019TonyFallon0415

Nothing exciting happened before ABC
But there is a lot of hard work after XYZ
When you put letters together you get a word
Look them up in a dictionary from Oxford
Consonants without a vowel has no real sound
If you said Y was a vowel your teacher frowned
The more words you learn the greater the vocabulary
If you want more then visit the library
When you want words alike go to synonyms
When they are opposite they are known as antonyms
There are rules regulations and curbs
About nouns adjectives and verbs
Having a dictionary is not a cure-all
Putting an S after a noun doesn’t mean its plural
Using italics gives a sentence a lot more impact
It could be the biggest lie they’ll think its fact
Poetry essays compositions and prose
Quotations which of course you have to enclose
I wrote a poem today and left off one tittle
That’s a big mistake because the I was little
You’d better study English if you are going to be a programmer
And your father’s mother is not your grammar
The hoity toity would surely bring in regulation
And would ban forever the use of any abbreviation
The next time I write a story of fiction
I bet someone will criticize my diction
They’ll pick on me for pronunciation
They’ll also criticize my intonation
Of course some language snobs think I’m not in vogue
When I open my mouth and they hear my Irish brogue
The Gaelic Language of letters you know has only twenty
Even after leaving off J Q W X Y Z we still have plenty.

People©2019TonyFallon0418

People©2019TonyFallon0418

People who look at me say I'm over the hill
I never wanted anything in life 
For which I was willing to kill

If we got in a fight I wouldn't use a knife
I tried to be friends with most
Resisting conflict and strife

In my closet there is no skeleton or ghost
By evil deeds I am not motivated
And I try to always be the perfect host

I never was so hurried I couldn't have waited
For anything I needed
Without being frustrated

I neither backed down nor pleaded
And I don't think I ever will
So I guess I have succeeded.

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The Shovel©2019TonyFallon0408

Once I was probably the finest shovel in the hardware store
With the rake the spade and fork in a tool rack inside the front door
The rake was proud of its strong ash teeth the fork of its fine wire tines
But I knew I was strong enough for work in the deepest coal mines

To be working deep down in the coal mines was not to be my lot
A fine big Irishman liked me so much he bought me on the spot 
I daily mucked out the pig sty and mixed a few bags of cement
But to lend me to any a neighbor he never would consent

The old man always took loving care of me made sure I didn't spoil
Never stored me dirty and coated my handle with linseed oil
The son left me out last Autumn which really is a scandal
I have snails crawling over my head and termites in my handle

He can't remember where he left me I’m covered with weeds and grass
Nobody can see me as I'm abandoned in a slight crevasse
As I lie here hidden in the roasting heat I'm very afraid
That I'll come to a dreadful finish, done in by a tractor blade

The Innocent©2019TonyFallon0406

"Oh don't believe the children"
That is what some grownups plead
"The things they say they may dream
Or could be something they read"

But they may not be lying
They may be telling the truth
But grownups do not believe
And ruin the children's youth

It's bad when bad things happen
Then are branded a liar
And grownups seem to forget
Where there's smoke there may be fire 

If you can't trust the mentors
The teacher the coach or scout
How can youth be protected
If you can't trust the devout

How often is said "shut up
And show your elders respect"
Too late it is realized 
A little child's life is wrecked.

Just Love©2019TonyFallon0331

I hope I can give you more love

Than could any other one

That we shall have blessing from above

On this life we’ve just begun

The occasion is so monumental

The dangers so great

The meeting often accidental

Yet too in love to wait

We know our love is not ordinary

As this day we celebrate

I promise my love this day we marry

To say it I will never hesitate

Hate©2019TonyFallon0319

Hate can be inherited

Or hate can be bred

Give a child to some religious leaders

They’ll install hate in his head

Parents can teach

Hatreds of the past

In actions and speech

So another mind is biased

The mantra of the evil

A young mind soured

The work of the devil

The work of the coward

The Shovel©2019TonyFallon0408

The Shovel©2019TonyFallon0408

Once I was probably the finest shovel in the hardware store
With the rake the spade and fork in a tool rack inside the front door
The rake was proud of its strong ash teeth the fork of its fine wire tines
But I knew I was strong enough for work in the deepest coal mines

To be working deep down in the coal mines was not to be my lot
A fine big Irishman liked me so much he bought me on the spot 
I daily mucked out the pig sty and mixed a few bags of cement
But to lend me to any a neighbor he never would consent

The old man always took loving care of me made sure I didn't spoil
Never stored me dirty and coated my handle with linseed oil
The son left me out last Autumn which really is a scandal
I have snails crawling over my head and termites in my handle

He can't remember where he left me I covered with weeds and grass
Nobody can see me as I'm abandoned in a slight crevasse
As I lie here hidden in the roasting heat I'm very afraid
That I'll come to a dreadful finish, done in by a tractor blade

The Innocent©2019TonyFallon0406

Last night I watched a show detailing
what went on in an "Adoption Mill" in
England during WW11. It was disgusting.

The Innocent©2019TonyFallon0406

"Oh don't believe the children"
That is what some grownups plead
"The things they say they may dream
Or could be something they read"

But they may not be lying
They may be telling the truth
But grownups do not believe
And ruin the children's youth

It's bad when bad things happen
Then are branded a liar
And grownups seem to forget
Where there's smoke there may be fire 

If you can't trust the mentors
The teacher the coach or scout
How can youth be protected
If you can't trust the devout

How often is said "shut up
And show your elders respect"
Too late it is realized 
A little child's life is wrecked.

Alive©2019TonyFallon0404

Alive©2019TonyFallon0404

When I look back on my life I guess I'm lucky to be alive
I made five trips to the hospital before I was twenty five
I had a hernia and an appendix which they claimed was acute
Which they say can be caused from somehow digesting the seeds of fruit
Since appendix runs in my family they were afraid of glitches
But I pulled though that night and came out of the theatre in stitches

I had an operation on my leg and the eye that is blind
My head was completely wrapped up for weeks while I was confined
A motor cycle incident generated some concussion
Two weeks more in a hospital bed with no kind of discussion
They claimed my brain had moved and I had a fractured cranium
And if bones didn't heal they might insert a rod of titanium

One time on Lough Ree we were on a boat without any vests
And we had two drunk guys on the boat who really were pests
They rocked the boat so frequently with fear I was paralyzed
We took on a lot of water and could have easily capsized
To this day I won't board a boat no matter how anyone implores
If the boat does not have a motor and is only propelled by oars

I had a scary incident on a horse in a Catskill mountain resort
And I got some injuries from playing Irish and American sport
But I had a few good years until one day by the Atlantic Ocean
I suffered an aneurism in my brain causing a bit of a commotion
All the doctors said I was too young to die I was a month past thirty five
Three weeks later when I walked out unaided I was lucky to be alive

A week after my fifty fifth birthday I went down with a minor stroke
My son who is EMS was with me when it happened again I didn't croak
I've been taken in many times so they can blast my kidney stones
And because of ice I wrecked my car and had to live with broken bones
They took my gallbladder and adenoids and I'm approaching seventy five
I am as healthy now as I ever was and happy to be alive

Getting ready© 2017TonyFallon

Getting ready© 2017TonyFallon

This spring in New York we've had snow and rain
Weeds and wild flowers and crocuses cover the terrain
The grass is getting longer and the tractor will not start
I've spent days working on it and it nearly broke my heart
Before I put the key in the ignition I put air in the tires
And used my compressor to blow dust off the wires
I checked all the belts and not even one was frayed
And because one was bent I changed the outside blade
I also checked for bare or worn wires in great detail
Making sure in the future the wires wouldn't spark or fail 
I've changed the plug and cleaned out the carburetor
And I may have called it names that insulted my creator
I emptied out the tank no one can call me a miser
And filled it with high test gas then added stabilizer
I charged up the battery checked the points and coil
And when I pulled out the dipstick it says it's full of oil
I turned the key so often the battery did discharge
So now I'm using the one from my car which is large
When dealing with batteries you must use protections
And make sure the cables make the right connections
When using starting fluid great caution is required
I must have put too much in and the bloody thing backfired.
It only burned the hair on my hand and singed my shirt
I used no more starting fluid and from then on was alert
Well I gave up on the tractor and got my Weed Whacker
And cut an awful amount of grass by God it is no slacker,

The Elphin Lass©2019TonyFallon0322

The Elphin Lass©2019TonyFallon0322

I first met Miss Bridey Murphy in the wee town of Elphin
My car broke down four years ago and her father took me in
He said there is a fine big spare bed room to the left upstairs
And before you retire for the night you'll join us in prayers

Very soon Bridget was putting layers of food on my plate
And when the father was not looking I asked her for a date
She shyly turned me down but appreciated the request
Saying her father didn't allow dates with any paying guest

All my wildest dreams were finally coming to pass
I was falling in love with this lovely Elphin lass

At breakfast I told her I was not a tenant anymore
She wouldn't be disobeying her father like the night before
She said I was truly a rogue but she liked my cunning style
She said she go to the movies and gave me a lovely smile

Well I got back that night and as soon as she got in the car
She said there's no movies in town lets drive to Dickie Beirne's Bar
The entertainers never stopped from the moment we came in
There were some singers and Sarah Egan on the violin


All my wildest dreams were finally coming to pass
I am madly in love with this lovely Elphin lass

I thought Bridey was a shy one but she sang two rebel songs
And one she wrote herself about the recent Strokestown wrongs
I thought I saw a miracle before me coming to pass 
I was falling madly in love with this lovely, Elphin lass

I work as a travelling salesman selling home heating oil
And I was searching for a little house somewhere around Boyle
That breakdown four years ago has radically changed my life
I bought a house in Boyle and I asked Bridey to be my wife

All my wildest dreams have finally come to pass
I am madly in love with this lovely Elphin lass

Issues©2019TonyFallon0402

Issues©2019TonyFallon0402

Do you wake up every morning in despair?
Thinking this is a lousy world that is unfair
Does your brain not function properly within?
What to fix you don't know where to begin

In a crowd are you lonely and feel all alone?
Do you feel your happiness has been blown?
Is your outlook permanently hopeless and bleak?
Are you your own worst critique?

Do you think people talk behind your back?
If they disagree do you think it's an attack?
Do you suffer from anxiety and fears?
Do you often sit at home and cry sad tears?

Are you afraid of closed or open spaces?
Are you afraid to be alone in some places?
Are you afraid to travel on a boat or plane?
Would you faint at the sight of a bloodstain?

As you go forward daily may your faith be unshaken
If you think everybody hates you, you are mistaken
For the friends you think are absent may not have flown
They may be like you and have issues of their own

Often read some funny books of stories or poems and prose
And if you watch the television at least watch funny shows
Go to the mountains for a walk or the ocean for a swim
Go to football game or in winter exercise in a gym

Drinking alcohol and loads of tablets is not the answer
Go somewhere there is music and become a ballroom dancer
An active body and mind can one day bid goodbye to sorrow
Forget the yesterdays and then look forward to tomorrow.