Email: tomasocarthaigh@yahoo.com
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Last blog entry: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:50:28 pm
Profile updated: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 12:16:36 am
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I love reading others work too, and the work of the three Roberts, Burns, Frost and Service have been a major influence on me, as have the Irish writers Yeats, Colum and Moore.
I like to write old fashioned poetry... you know... the boring kind that rhymes!!! I write on all topics, from the current train of thought. Though not a great runner to church faith occurs as a subject a lot in what I write.
Championing the underdog is another strong theme of by poetry, from the Red Indian to the Roma, to the Scots and ourselves.
Burns loved the lasses, out with many he walked
How the parsons grumbled: how the people talked!
Condemned he was by parson and people, in pulpit and letter!
Shame on the ladies who walked out with a man like he!
The lad that loved the lasses scorned them all
Who he and his ladys as sinners they did call
And chided them for having nothing to do better!
Than annoy two of God creatures who in Love be!
Sinners at a Séance
They sat together round a table
As decent folk lay in bed
So that they might be able
To converse with the dead.
Spirits came, they told, when called
To cross the great divide
And others sat enthralled
As some spoke to loved ones who died.
Such by all faiths is forbidden
Called by all a sin
For Evil in the dark arts is hidden
But is found deep within
And the séance is a Trojan horse, a gift
And the should when in peace
Like a flea on a dog, ir lives a lift
And so to Evil gives release.
Thus inspired by spirits found
At such séances at night
Yeats, with pen and paper found
New inspiration for imaginations flight.
Why did not he do so as I
And other normal men
Take time out to see the sky
Or turn to church again?
The Holy Ghost is a spirit to seek
Its message is pure and true
The Word of God is what it does speak
Of its word you can be sure
Though not often, and in church twice as rare
My thoughts t such turn for a while
I find peace and inspiration in prayer
And start to write with a smile…
The Great Mc Gonagle!
Of awful verse he was the master,
Writing of the Tay Bridge disaster,
Stating Shakespeare the best wordsmith be,
In Britain to date, and second he,
No disrespect to Burns the Bard
No desire for a great name to be tarred,
He was second best Scottish son,
For north of the border, Mc Gonagle was number one!
On receiving inspiration divine
Pen he seized to write a line
Continued to write, such verse he penned:
Was to cause mirth until his end!
His first verse was to the Reverend Gilfillan, an address
Which was judged by same to be a poetic mess
Wryly the poets efforts the minister did dismiss
Stating "Shakespeare wrote nothing like this!"
His verse on theatre and street he read,
With laughter and derision he was met instead,
Of the respect he expected, while reading pompous
Clad in Kilt he caused quite a rumpus!
He tried once to America to go
But on its shores no-one did know
Found himself cut loose, culturally cast away
His homeward fare a kind stranger did pay
Once fifty miles or more he walked
To read verse to the queen: but when he talked
To the guardsmen at the gate
He was turned away in indignant state
To be poet laureate he said he wished to seek,
To be told that to try he had a cheek,
And he’d better move while still was free,
To go as he pleased all the way home to Dundee.
And them his finest hour came,
Or maybe his greatest composition of shame!
When the Tay Bridge collapsed in a gale
While upon it crossed a train by rail...
And to write upon it he was possessed
To read his words few were impressed
And his ode to the tragedy of the bridge of the Tay
Causes smiles to all to this very day.
Was he a fool... or just a bad poet
If he was a fool he seemed not to know it
Some say he was clever acted if on a stage,
As he commanded his audience as he read from his page.
Though they laughed and at him things threw,
That he brightened their day that much he knew
And how many writers who so serious could be
Will be long forgotten when remembered is he?
How many poets refuse to use rhyme
Mc Gonagle insisted to use it all the time
Unfortunately the pattern often fell out of place,
In the age of the Romantics that cast him from grace,
He was but a common man, at least he did try,
To be like him, none want to be including I,
But still to convention he was never a slave,
And to his emotions was never the knave
As I this verse write in his appalling style
I admire his bravery, smiling all the while,
Though great are his foes and his friends they are few,
To his art in his heart he tried to be true,
And those who read his words may mock and may grin
But to be a weaver and a poets no sin
And as I sit here more poetry to write,
May I be pure as heart as he as I scribble tonight!
First Ode to Wordsworth
Verses of Golden daffodils I’ve read
That waved in the varying wind around
That showed the beauty of the world
That in the sight he found.
Such verses of serenity,
Of ambience and of peace,
That he desired for the world,
And of global freedom were to cease...
And the champion of the underdog
The republican, and of those not free
Was to change in the blink of an eye,
To champion the system, empire and monarchy.
And bonny Wordsworth who with pen
Signed his works with name as "Will"
Changed to the more formal "William"
And wrote his name as such his death until...
What caused this change I do not know,
To find out is an impossible task,
But if to where he is on death I go,
The question to him I’ll surely ask!
*/ Early writings of Wordsworth were libertarian and reactionary in nature, full of the joys of life, to which he signed his name "Will Wordsworth".
However, a change in the tone and subject matter arrived in the second period of his life, and on these more socially standard works he wrote his name in the more formal "William Wordsworth", by which we know him today.
This poem is inspired by a "Readers Digest" article from 1970 that explores his work and asks why as to the change in the name and tone of works from Wordsworth.
All poems are copyright of the originating author. Permission must be obtained before using or performing others' poems.
Submissions saught to cartyweb@hotmail.com for the February edition of Cartys Poetry Journal.
Read the January edition below...
![[cover thumbnail]](http://static.lulu.com/items/volume_67/8211000/8211323/1/preview/320_8211323.jpg?8211323-1263511861)
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hi Tomas
Thankyou for your comments on "One Night" I agree that rhyme does seem to be on the decline at the moment. Anyway I loved reading your work as well.
Cath
Hello Tomas
Thanks for your thoughts on my "Four Magnolia Walls". I think you have hit the nail on the head (see how I extend the DIY metaphor, there).
Best regards
Rachel P
glad you liked brief encounters.. i was thinking about at one point about reading brief encounters at ky's event but then i thought this was a all ages event so it wouldn't have being suitable - maybe next year! lol - i have got lots off different writing events on the go.. hoping for round 2 in ireland next year.. how bout u?
Hi Thomas, thanks for your comment on Who do you See. Ive just been having a look at some of your work, and had a good chuckle at your Mc Gonagle poem.Ive always loved and quoted "Oh beautiful bridge o`er the Silvery Tay", as how not to do it, but as you have so rightly pointed out, how may poets have come and gone? and this still brings a smile to anyone who reads it...... makes you think!!
Cate xx
Hi Tomas,
Thanks for your comment on 'After Happily Ever'. I really like 'The Great McGonagle'...Very funny!
Rachel
Hi Tomas,
Thanks for reading and commenting on my work - very much appreciated.
Cx
thank you for your kind comment Tomas, she was a Romanian gypsy, ţigan, no not meant to be cigan, I think cigan is Slovenian and she was Romanian. ta, Deb
Thanks Thomas.
Glad you enjoyed The Woolly tale. I am impressed by your historical content - particularly as my knowledge of Poetry and Poets is severely limited. (I failed Eng. Lit.)
Hi, Tomas. Thank you. It's good to be back, and thanks for adding me on Facebook. :)
Thanks for you comments about my poem. Nice to see your work on here.
Keep writing!
aye! I'm there! Currently rehearsing my set! The way it is looking - it is going to be Andy N & friends rather than Andy N, but that's me! Never do things by half! See you there!
Thank you for revisiting my poetry Tomas. I think we share a love of rhyme. My free verse ones are few and far between.
Isobel x
Hi Tomas, thank you for taking the time to read and your kind comment on Paper Ghost, Deb
Hi Tomas, Thanks for your comments. Much appreciated. I love the Haikus. I particularly enjoyed reading Haiku number 12.
Cheers,
George
Thanks Tomas,
I wrote it in response to a short snatch of a song I heard on the radio. I don't like being pigeon-holed and patronised, especially by Labour politicans who have totally lost touch with the origins of the party.
Thank you for your comment on 'What's it all about' - probably the deepest thing i've ever written - not sure I'll ever be able to follow it up! I guess it does sit well next to your poem 'Those who faught on that side' which also really makes you think. Would like to read more of your stuff but I shouldn't be on here at all - have a wedding to go to and I'm still in my Jimmies aaaaahhhhhh.
See you again no doubt. Isobel x
Hi tomas, thanks for your kind words. why is it just us that knows about the banks? Why do the others cover for them and act like nuts? sorry just very tired, never enough hours in a day for me. xx
Thank you - I think beastiality is very underated. The dream stuff is interesting - I've stopped having (or remembering) my vivid dreams since I started writing.
Hello, I read your poem...and listened, "all things pass as does time" I think its brilliant! The comparisons are really well put throughout the poem, I shall be reading more. Nice work :)
Freda Davis
Thu 14th Aug 2008 13:53
Hi Tomas,
thank you for the comment on my poem. Your website is amazing. You put a lot of energy into poetry. Its great to get into the Write Out Loud site and see so many people out there working so hard for poets and poetry.
Freda
Hi, Tomas.
Thank you for your comment. Walls can be our allies, keep the cold hands of life out, or it can be our enemy, keeping life away from us. But no matter what wall we stand behind, everything we are will always be known to the ghosts walking through like in your poem, The Unseen Shadow, which I really liked. :)
Hi Tomas
Thank you for your lovely comment on my poem dads ladders. I love the detail of everyday life.
Lynda X
Hi Tomas, thank you for your kind comment on my Burma poem.
I liked your web-site, your poetry gives an interesting insight
Hello, Tomas
Thank you for your comment and information in regard of your poetry site. Any of the languages you mentioned I am not fluent. Do know some vocabulary though,
but that is not enough to be a translator. It is good to hear from you. I like the idea that you are going to write about Egypt, would be interested to red the poems. The subject of an Ancient Culture really fascinates.
Have a great weekend!
Thank you,
Zuzanna
Hi Tomas
Nice to see today's dark underbelly being probed. thanks for comment in my direction.
Barrie
thank you for your comment, yes its a hard road sometimes in our search for happiness
Thanks for your comment Tomas, I can sympathise with the writing addiction - I'm chair-shaped, but I disagree that rhyming is boring! I think your first poem is really touching, I wish I had the balls to write something serious!
Tomas
Thank you for taking the time to read my poem. There is a lot of truth all reality in your comment.
Cheers!
Zuzanna
Janet Ramsden
Thu 22nd May 2008 20:11
Hello Tomas, thanks for taking the time to read my writings.
I also enjoy rhyming poems but i try not to make a word fit just for the sake of it. Ha ha, there's a rhyme in there somewhere.
I find your seance and devils scripture intriguing, as i am a spiritualist medium and healer.
Very much a save the world person.
Spiritualists embrace all religions, colour and creed. Perhaps surprisingly, many of our congregation are Catholic.
I've been wading through Miltons "paradise lost," for about six months, amazing imagery there for devil poetry.
Thanks again Janet.
tomas, your poetry is very potent, thanks for sharing i enjoyed reading you...caroline xx
Tomas
Thank you for reading and commenting on my latest poem “The Riders of the Storm”
With sincere appreciation,
Zuzanna
Hello, Tomas
Thank you for your lovely comment! Yes, you had the right feelings within the lines in my poem. Life as it happens. Often takes toll on everyone and then we feel as a bent tree that would fall if not supported by others in this case family member, friends...Etc.
Warm Regards,
Zuzanna
Hi Tomas, thanks for comment. I've never heard 2 Unlimiteds 'Faces' so will have to see if I can give it a listen! Spooky, hope you liked it anyway, cheers Jeff
Thank you for your comment. I am all words and no structure! You, on the other hand, have that under serious control. I love Hound for Iraq.
Melanie Rees
Tue 6th May 2008 09:51
Hi Tomas
thank you for your lovely comments. I think your poem 'shall another read my words' is so beautiful.
mel
x
Thank you for your visit.
Although I am curious as to why you think I should rhyme more.
David
Hello, Tomas
Thank you for the latest comments.
It happened that I was living in both systems. In addition, I see not much difference except maybe the working class divided more in a Capitalism versa Communism. Here we do have the Freedom of speech and have your own things like home., car, place to live but the prices you pay having all those goods are tremendous. It is good for those who have good paying jobs. Those who have less paying jobs, then these people live like in a Communism system. I tell you that Communism had good sites too. Like the Education for all was mandatory. Here it is slightly different. If you have money then you do not need to have University to be in Politics. In Communism system one had to be highly educated to be an Economist- this is just an example...Some people left the country and still do, I mean the Communist. Both sites have good trades and as not so good. I need to close here as my comment can go forever, Will come back to read your latest poem...Thank you.
Kind Regards,
Zuzanna
Sorry - also wanted to share a 'hurley' poem which no-one over here (in Australia) understands... it's on my site too.
Thanks for your comments on my site.
I've just posted a reply on there for you...
Frances
Hi, thanks for the kind words!
I really like Big Eyes Blinking Blankly, it's incredibly powerful.
Gem :)
Thanks for your visit, Tomas, and, in turn, I do like your meaningful traditional metre-and-rhyme; also great to see verses in Irish as I love the world being multicultural.
hya tomas,
your stuff aint old fashioned its cool....diverse too.
the island is lovely..where did you stay?
shelley d
Hi Tomas,
thank you for your comment on my poem.
Your poem 'Big Eye Blinking Blankly' is very powerful and exposes us here in our luxurious existence.
I like the way you switched it around at the end where the table are turned and how we might feel in the face of starvation.
Extremely sad to read but so true
thanks for sharing
Ally
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Julia Deakin
Thu 22nd Oct 2009 13:48
Tomas - have only just checked my page after months and find a nice comment from you. Thanks. I'll change the samples soon.
Your mix of music, words and images in Flying Over Europe works well. A moving piece.
Best
Julia