Francie Lynch

Francie Lynch Jul 2023

In my youth,
My sleek clean youth,
I was taught to pray.
Learn the right way,
Said men of the cloth,
And women of the rag-tag convent.
In rows, on knees, in suplication,
We prayed for days off Purgatory,
Babies, lost in Limbo;
Pray for starving
Blacks in Africa,
or
In Peru.

I prayed for you.

Beside my bed,
In my head,
For the Living,
For the Dead.
I prayed.
He delayed.
I prayed longer
For thirst and hunger.
I prayed harder,
Got no farther.
I saw little change.
Perhaps got worse,
Despite my prayers,
Or a longing curse.
Amen.

#prayer #religion

Francie Lynch Jul 2023

Three Small Words

Three small words,
That we hear,
Make or break
So many fears.
Now let's read
These short phrases,
To realize how
They change us.

How are you?
I feel fine.
Where are you?
You look Divine.

I see you.
You're very welcome.
I miss you.
What a surprise!
I need you,
Open your eyes.

Believe in yourself.
Nobody is perfect.
Count your blessings.
Speak the truth.

Seize the Day.
Go for it.
I'll be there,
Working on it.

Be the exception,
Never give up
Against all odds,
I'll respect that.

Dreams come true.
Learn from mistakes.
Aspire to inspire
For heaven's sake.

Please forgive me.
Let it go.
Let's be friends,
I trust you.

I love you.
Come to bed.

Three small words
Mean so much;
Mouths and hands
Reach and touch.

#love #friendship #sayings #adages

Francie Lynch Jul 2023

Hoffaesque

I've poured cement
On a love
That will never surface
Again.

Hoffaesque: Like Jimmy Hoffa

#lostlove #lovelost

Francie Lynch Jun 2023

Let Me Just Answer, "What's in a Name?"

One hundred years ago
My Mammy was just three,
The exact same age as me,
When she sailed us across the sea,
All those years ago.

Just lately, just now,
I said Mammy's Mammy's name out loud.
What was that, I asked.
For sure her name's not been said
For many, many years.
Margaret Duffy
A dog barked.
So I said my mother's:
Mammy
A breeze furled the window sheers.

The dog continued to yelp,
So I said her other names louder:
Brigid...........Nellie

I will keep the wind inside me,
And allow the dogs their day;
Your names will still be called upon,
In stress or tranquility.

The Irish have called their mother "Mammy" since forever.

#mothers #names #remembrance #memorial

Francie Lynch Jun 2023

Gyrating Yeats

.
                                smoke
                                     of
                                 puff
                                   a
                                like
                      dissipates
                                  it
                                until
                               up
                                and
                             up
                                and
                                   up
                              and
                           up
                    going
                swirls
                    decreasing
                          ever
                                in
                                gyrates
                             and
                        spirals
                    time
   pre-determined
our

#tempusfugit #aging #life #mortality #death

Francie Lynch Jun 2023

The Man Whose Wife Left

He lived down the street from us,
And came to be known as,
The man whose wife left him.
We speculated and surmised.
None but two knew the reason why
He became
The man whose wife left him.

He stopped cutting the grass
And weeding the beds.
He won’t play his uke
On the porch like he did.
From all accounts,
He was a good Dad,
None ever heard him
Explete a foul word.
He worked till retired,
Never was fired.
I'm told he lived a gentle life;
Never started a fight,
Or ran from strife.
That's what I heard
About the man whose wife left him.
Left to his own devices,
The man whose wife left him,
Left.

#divorce #suicide #separation #lonliness