A Farewell for John B Keane

By Pauline Fayne

Paul O'Mahony in his July 22, 2009 blog said, "Pauline sent this poem in a comment to a piece by Mattie Lennon. So that it get the audience it deserves, I’m posting it in a page of its own."

It is four ten a.m.
on the morning after your funeral
and a litany of birds
broadcast a requiem of grace notes
over the mourning town
as I try to negotiate
a straight line
between the Square and Charles Street.

Finally finding the right angle to the corner
I meet your pensive gaze
from a photograph in Landys’ window
and understand
why you once barred me
for not drinking,
while Mary,who held the keys
said softly
‘Don’t worry , you’ll be alright tomorrow’

©Pauline Fayne
(from I’m Fine Really, Stonebridge Publications 2005)