Poem On St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

In honour of the occasion, Eyewear invited Galway-based Irish poet Kevin Higgins (pictured) to provide a poem for this poetry-inclined blog.

He did, and it is below.

Quality of Life
after Charles Simic

Today Polish waiters bring us more soup
than we’re able for.

But I was happier then.

When I asked for soup
I’d get a bowl with
nothing in it.

We’d sit there for years,
our heads full of smiley, Irish thoughts,
gazing into our bowls
with nothing in them.

Each night we’d sing our anthem
“For these bowls with nothing in them,
may we be truly grateful”,
and mean every word.

Saying ‘Thank you’ was big.
We spent our whole lives doing it.

Not like now.

Comments

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