Ronnie McGinn's Poetry Page
| If you have a poem you'd like to see published in The Irish Examiner then send it to:
The Poetry Corner
The Irish Examiner USA
1040 Jackson Avenue, Third Floor
Long Island City
NY 11101
or, preferably, you can email it direct to
ronniemcginn@eircom.net.
If possible keep your poem to 20 lines. You may choose any subject you like, in any form you like as long as it's original. We look forward to hearing from you. |
Billy McCarthy is a founder member of the Douglas Writers Group in Cork, Ireland and has recently launched his first book entitled "Barnetstown to Ballinglanna".
The book is a selection of short stories and poems taken from his earliest experiences in life to the present day.
He even includes two poems by his son Padraig and two by his granddaughter Ciara.
Billy writes in a style that is worthy of any tradition Irish writer and yet has all the modernity of the present day.
Our poem this week taken from his book is a fine example of Billy's lyricism.
Sweet Ballinglanna
Of Sweet Ballinglanna tonight I am Dreaming,
My thoughts ever winging 'way back to the time,
When youthful and merry we crossed o'er the ferry,
As the sound of soft music came over the brine.
We joined in gay dances and later went roaming,
The fishermen homing we passed on the way,
The moonlight was shining, no wonder I'm pining
For Sweet Ballinglanna in exile today.
Now my heart still returns down the road by the meadow
Where we strayed 'neath the moonlight before we did part
Where the shimmering wavelets sweep over the shingle
On Sweet Ballinglanna, the queen of my heart
Oh, pride of my homeland your memories still haunt me,
In dreams how they taunt me wherever I roam,
For though I may wander in exile, I ponder,
And still I grow fonder of my dear old home.
Now to think of the evenings we spent by your waters
Making our plans as we strolled hand-in-hand,
Those times are long gone but we'll always remember
Your dark towering cliffs and your bright golden sand.
For my heart still returns down the road by the meadow,
Where we strayed 'neath the moonlight before we did part,
Where the shimmering wavelets sweep over the shingle,
On sweet Ballinglanna the queen of my heart.
© Billy McCarthy
|
