In this weeks class we were prompted to write and epistle or a letter, an excellent example of which is Letter to N.Y. by ELizabeth Bishop. Mine ended up being essentially a list of people and things from Belfast.
(I really did try to make it as evenly split between the genders as I could. I recently bought “The Penguin Book of Contemporary Irish Poetry”. It fetes thirty-one men and FOUR women. That cannot be right.
Anyway.
Belfast
Dia duit, fair faa ye, how’s she cuttin’?
What about ye, how’s the form, are ye well?
Ar mhaith leat cupán tae, céad míle fáilte.
I hiddy say I think yer luckin’ well.
Belfast baps, soda farls fresh off the griddle.
Paddy pizza, seaweed dulce, yellow man.
Sweet fifteens, Irish stew, Mars Bar sandwich.
Bushmills whiskey, malted loaf, Paris bun.
George Campbell, Keith Drury, Terry Bradley.
Muriel Grant, Doris Blair, Deborah Brown.
Jack Morrow, Ian Knox, Alex Monteith.
Sarah Longley, Noreen Rice, Jean Osbourne.
James Galway, Gary Moore, Van Morrison.
The Undertones, Phil Coulter, Therapy.
The Answer, Snow Patrol, The Four of Us.
Rigid Digits, The Divine Comedy.
Paul Muldoon, John Hewitt, Seamus Heaney.
Derek Mahon, Chris Agee, James Simmons.
Colette Bryce, Ruth Carr, Sinead Morrisey.
Leontia Flynn, Maureen Boyle, Kate Newman.
John Hewitt, Duke of York, The Pavillion.
The Sunflower, The Deers Head, Lavery”s.
Woodworkers, Madden’s Bar, or The Garrick.
Kelly’s Cellars, Whites Tavern or McHughs.
You bring me back to earth when I get notions
And pick me up again when I am sad.
Belfast is so full of contradictions.
You’re a home for the blesséd and the damned.
Munkus Bubbly 