Irish Wake

by Shannon Goetter, Haddonfield Memorial High School

 

They dance, they dance,

Hail to christ almighty they say

What a lovely life she lived

What a beautiful day

Step left, step right

In the graveyard til night

They sway to her soul’s melody

Lifting from the ground,

Flowing through the trees

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

5 & 6 she rode a bike

7 & 18 she fell in love

1 & 25 she married Mike

3 & 40 she had her son

Right-left-right she was a school teacher

Left-right-left she read books

Right-right-left she grew flowers

Left-left-right she loved to cook

She hums a tune in God’s kingdom

They swing in line

For the lost aren’t truly lost

When you meet them in time

They dance, they dance,

Hail to christ almighty they say

What a lovely life she lived

What a beautiful day!

 

Fourth Prize winner of the 2019 Walt Whitman Poetry Contest