The waters of my Youth © Tony Fallon033018.

The waters of my Youth © Tony Fallon033018.

 I often cycled across the Shannon when I was on my own

It wasn’t very difficult if you used the bridge of Athlone

As I crossed that expanse I wondered who could guarantee

That there wasn’t another monster in the bottom of Lough Ree

For it was often in my dreams that when I’d be there fishing

That along would come Nessies cousin with its tail swishing

Those beady eyes were scary and teeth from snout to throat

Even a little nip from that would surely stunt my growth

Those were the nights I’d wake up everybody with my screams

But never would I tell them the scary content of my dreams

We lived near two lakes ourselves but I wouldn’t cross in a boat

For I worried about the boat capsizing and not staying afloat

All the stories I’d been told about getting shocked by an eel

Or winding up in the belly of a Nessie for her midday meal

So that’s my story of my youthful fear of our local lake

And the wild dreams of monsters that often kept me awake

The Haircut© Tony Fallon032918

The Haircut© Tony Fallon032918

I cut my hair the other day

I miss my pony tail so much

The girls used to stroke it

Now they don’t even touch

I must have looked very wild

As I sat down in the chair

She said “oh my god

That is some head of hair”

How long ago since you cut it

It must be six or seven years

I cannot cut it with clippers

I’ll have to use a shears”

She continued her tirade

“I‘m surprised you didn’t get strangled

With the way

Your hair in the back is all tangled

That big tangle I’ll have to cut

I can’t get it undone

If you were a woman

 It could be rolled into a bun”

She clipped on gaily

But I could not ignore

My former lovely tresses

Piling up on her barber floor

I asked how much they weighed

 She said “at least five pound”

And they probably did

 They took up a lot of ground

A Tanka TonyFallon.

A Tanka TonyFallon.

She was the kind of
girl who had many angles
for every problem
one angle was acute one
she did not have many curves

A Tanka by Tony Fallon.,.

A Tanka by Tony Fallon.,.

You think you are a
Parallelogram and that
I am just a square
Geometry is't for you
But draw your own conclusions

3 Haiku's

3 Haiku's
You built your little
circle I was not around
it is cold outside
2
You know well you are
driving me crazy and you
do not own a car
3
Half a loaf is just
better than none but not if
its only half baked

3 More Haiku's

3 More Haiku's
you said a penny
for your thoughts at a time I
acted so pensive
2
put linoleum
on the kitchen floor nothing 
can fall through the cracks
3
My poor old heart is
drowning in sorrow and I
don't know how to swim

The River © Tony Fallon032518

The River © Tony Fallon032518

We had one river in our parish

So small it had no name

It wasn’t a whole foot wide

Not enough to stop a flame

It was fed by Bridgid’s well

Maybe ten gallons an hour

It was cool in the summer

 And it had healing power

Pilgrims came to Bridgid‘s well

And knelt there in the moss

Then walked to the church

Doing the Stations of the Cross

The well never went dry

Regardless of conditions

But many of the locals

Had many superstitions

The font of Bridgid’s head

Could never be removed

The well would not produce

And that had been proved

The font was right beside the well

As to school I made my way

Seventy years later I saw a photo

It still is there today.

To the best of my knowledge we only had that

one river that had water 365 days a year

in our parish and only one Bridge as it emptied

into Lough Funshinagh*Maybe a mile long.

The Dissapearinhg lake.* Go to YouTube.