TheHermit©2021TonyFallon0330

 

TheHermit©2021TonyFallon0330

The virus came so quickly before we could prepare
When someone infected sneezed it just flew through the air
To be safe according to experts just wear a mask
Since the stores had practically none that was a task
They also recommended you often wash your hands
And suggested you not visit any foreign lands
They had no medicine to give as an infusion
You were advised to stay home in total seclusion

They closed down the stadium they closed down the chapel
And suggested useless cures like the doctor's apple
We had to stay from the others by at least six feet
In stores you could follow people but you could not meet
Some wouldn't wear masks because they considered it a hoax
But I think it was real I'm missing older folks
Some think the virus is some kind of mass collusion
I'm not too happy but I'm staying in seclusion

Some religious leader gave bad advise to their flocks
Told them it was better to die than go to detox
Despite the laws of separation of church and state
Keep the donated money coming was their mandate
They finally retreated to their earthly palaces
With their airplanes limos and healthy bank balances
I was not moved by their messages of delusion
I stocked up my fridge and was ready for seclusion

Those who should have known better were acting immature
All the expert commentators thought they had a cure
Both politicians parties agreed to disagree
Some felt self important because they owned a degree

We were to drink much water to keep our throats moistened
If we had drank Clorox we all would have been poisoned
Do not drink this do drink that led to mass confusion
I'll eat like last year and be happy in seclusion

When St Patrick came to Ireland he drove out the snakes

 When St Patrick came to Ireland he drove out the snakes

Some crossed the Atlantic all the way to the United States

There was not much food for them on the East Coast

They started crawling westward because there was no boat

But coyotes and racoons gave them very little peace

So they realised there was no great welcome in the East

the heat out in the west caused them to lose their skin

Most wander round at night they have no pit to hiss in

OffToAmerica©2021TonyFallon0113

 OffToAmerica©2021TonyFallon0113

I had saved and borrowed money and in a week would sail

I said goodbye to my parents now both old and frail

The farm we were living on was way too small to split

I was the eldest I didn't want to cause family conflict

They had raised and nurtured me like all of the others

Now I was leaving them and my sister and my brothers

Belying my doubts and fears I put on some bravado

Knowing I might never come back from Colorado

My uncle never returned he was a cattle baron

A man who had made it big many miles from Aran

The uncle being a kind man sent many an envelope

The American dollars inside helped my parents cope

It was he who lent me the passage and money for trains

To get me from New York to his ranch way out on the plains

I had said farewell to all my friends in the parish

Mates I might see no more but memories to cherish

My father brought me in the curragh as far as Oranmore

By the Limerick Cork border my feet were feeling sore

A kindly farmer let me sleep ten hours in his shed

With breakfast in the morning and four slices of bread

With my sore feet daily I was not making great progress

And each day on the road I found myself walking less and less

The weather was rainy and I was walking in wet shoes

On my right foot I had corns on the left an ugly bruise

But I kept pressing on by day and at night I strove

And anyone I'd meet I'd ask how far more to Cobh

The ticket said at one on Thursday the boat would depart

But when I finally got to the quay my world fell apart

The liner stayed in the bay and did not come in to dock

And the last tender with passengers left at twelve o'clock

I saw the last passenger board and wave us all goodbye

Someone said the next boat to New York was not until July

My boat had left on its first trip across the wild Atlantic

And I have missed the maiden voyage of the great Titanic

IGotTheInjection(C)2021TonyFallon0312.

 IGotTheInjection(C)2021TonyFallon0312.

I once had a sweetheart to whom I was so devoted

I believed in the pandemic but I was outvoted

So I signed up secretly and got the first injection

So then I had  no fear of getting any infection

During that first shot I was like inspecting the ceiling

At the first sight of my blood I faint or just start squealing

I had to drive forty miles again to get the second

Which was twenty more miles of driving than I had reckoned

Thankfully neither injection caused a swelling or pain

While others got varied side effects I could not complain

She temped fate by in public not ever wearing a mask

She would not even wear it in the car though I would ask

There are people who are suspicious of authority

And getting this shot is not part of their priority

She didn't believe in doctors for sickness like angina

And she clearly had no respect for doctors from China

She though the covid scare was in reality fake news

She was not a follower she would believe what she choose

Thoughts of most other people to her were just badly flawed

Everyone in the world was engaged in deceit or  fraud

My hands I wash often they are always in a lather

If you will not comply I don't want to hear you blather

 I follow my doctors orders I'm just a civilian

It's not thousands who have died I think it is a million

One day she started coughing thank God my face was covered

She went into the hospital but never recovered

Outside the gates she asked God why she got the infection

He said "you should have worn a mask and got the injection

Scientists are scientists so they don't blame the Chinese

And some pray both day and night for a cure for this disease"

Some doubtful people may be committing a big blunder

Like my stubborn ex-sweetheart who now lies six feet under.

I will keep on wearing my mask and keep washing my hands

Until Doc Fauci and his experts finally disbands

YearsGoneBy©2021TonyFallon0303

 

YearsGoneBy©2021TonyFallon0303

On Sundays I rode my bicycle to Knockcroghery mass

From my home in Barnacullen by the lake in Ballyglass
By Brehony's Connaughtions and Coynes I rapidly wheeled
Then madly on to Shrah through the Racecourse and Sandfield

At Mattie Fallon's block factory corner there was a sign
Past Healy's shop and Rogers Pharmacy was a slight incline
On by Curley's and O'Briens shops and Donaghue's forge
Partnered by the Coyle brothers from Culleen Joe and George

I passed by Jamesie's Pub never thinking of a flat
And gave a big salute to the popular Widow’s Pat
In Gordon's you could use the phone or post a letter
And stop often too in Flannigan's when weather was wetter

The end of the trip was in sight as I passed the village Green
Where I played some handball and football when I was a teen
I never had to attend the school where Mister Hoare ruled
Where all the Knockcroghery and local children were schooled

You would think from the priests sermons we all should be detained
For he often sounded like our souls with mortal sins were stained
Heaven was besieged each Sunday for favors by the devout
And many a wayward young lad in the ear got a clout

According to the priest there was no sitting on fences
And if you should die in sin there were fierce consequences
Some old folks nodded off like they were under hypnosis
On the pulpit we were reminded of the laws of Moses

Of course we heard the De Profundis which to us was unique
It was read to us in Latin which might as well be Greek

The mass itself wound up with a lot of bell ringing
And if there was benediction we all wound up singing
This tradition was repeated in Rahara and St John's
While the men dreamed of Guinness in the local salons

As I sit here remembering I know I'm reminiscing
When if you didn't show for mass you were classified as missing
A simpler time for us before they put men on the moon
And I don't think those simpler times will return to us soon