'Is forgiveness possible?' You ask.
Come here for a moment, and I’ll tell you what I think.
Look around and see it all from my eyes,
You might miss something if you blink.
You’re asking a society in isolation,
If they wish to revolutionise their peace,
By bringing up their ancestors from their graves,
Just so six counties can be released.
Can you hear yourself, and your foolish words?
Can you not see the same people I do?
What on Earth are you actually expecting to achieve,
When I’m not sure our ancestors even knew.
Isolation is a fairly heavy word.
It says more than any other.
But it’s true, look at them sitting there,
Texting, and ignoring each other!
That device they’re holding in their hands,
Connects them to a world far wider than Earth
All they care about are the people they know,
They consider their location to be nothing but dirt.
I live in this isolated time.
I feel loneliness while I sit amongst the crowd.
At times I feel the need to speak,
But then I fear my voice will be too loud.
Let them go, let them go their ways,
You’re the only one who cares anymore.
We once wanted unification, we once stood as brothers..
But that was all before.
It haunts me that innocents died for no worthy cause,
While laws passed under tyrant rule.
But you must accept that history is unchangeable,
And that the truth is, this world is cruel.
When I seen your question, I asked myself,
What on Earth is to be forgiven?
That was 100 years ago, a different time altogether
To the one that we’re now living!
You’re asking an anti-social society, who would protest that label,
To forgive people they didn’t, and will never, know.
From day one, 1916 has been a legend for us,
One we had to accept as reality. And let it go.
I think we’ve all gotten on in the present tense,
Despite our constant struggle to adapt to change.
There are dreamers amongst us, who think like the rebels did,
But in this society, they’re considered to be strange.
I’d say the majority would now oppose home rule.
As they can see our government stands for everything but respect,
With empty promises being made just to gain the necessary voting quota,
So they can make negative impacts to our lives and economy once they’re elected!
We’re all thankful for the seven members of the IRB Minister’s Council,
Who fought, and died, in the hope of our fate.
But I think Yeats was right making reference to beauty,
When he encapsulated our current state.
We have all found our ways through the darkness,
Without following in the footsteps of Plunkett’s eight-hour wife,
Who proved Plunkett and all his friend’s died in vein,
As she let the dark encase her for the rest of her life.
I hope my opinion is more than just my own,
And you may one day see it as yours too.
Because forgiveness is no longer necessary,
Now that, as you see, we’re surrounded by a generation anew.
We are united, even though it may not be as our ancestors hoped.
Forgiveness is possible, you should be asking if acceptance is, though.
Because if you took a look around, to see what I see,
You wouldn’t need me to answer you. Because you too, would let go.
26 February 2016
Copyright © All Rights Reserved Joanne Heraghty
