THE FIRING SQUAD . Lost in time, his mother’s words, When but an arms-held boy, Remembered sweet the lullabies, That brought the infant joy. . The years of boyhood, river stream, Wherever youth will pause and dream, To breathe their true love’s sonnet, verse, When posies fall from […]
TO MY BROTHER KILLED IN BATTLE . Are you a peach tree or a beech tree? A birch grove, a little ivy leaf? I am looking for you, my brother, and I am looking For the thing into which God has changed you. . Is your soul bound […]
THE NATION OF THE DOWNCAST EYE . We are the nation of the downcast eye, We guard our thoughts and tongue. Ours is the sad and the sullen tribe, For we know that the trap has sprung. . We know full well though we dare not tell, That […]
I have five friends, who walk with me,
Companions of life’s road
We laugh and talk, and they comfort me,
When I am weak and cold.
Peace of mind, protection too,
Where e’r my feet have trod,
My Guardian Angel, Conscience too,
My Family Tree and God.
A LAMENT FROM THE TRENCHES . I wish the sea was not so wide that parts me from my love: I wish the things men do below were known to God above. I wish that I were back again in the glens of Donegal – They’ll call me […]
GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR . When first I saw you in the curious street, Like some platoon of soldier ghosts in grey, My mad impulse was all to smite and slay To spit upon you, tread you ‘neath my feet. But when I saw how each sad soul […]
Michael’s fervently Republican parents, Patrick Roe and Kathleen, a former Sister of Mercy at a Liverpool convent and nurse were both involved in the Republican movement. By the age of 40, Patrick had fought in four conflicts. Throughout much of the Republic, British Army posters offered a reward for Patrick Roe McLaughlin dead or alive.
Forked lightning flashed above me, It lit a fearful sight, Of crashing waves and washing decks, And torn sails put to flight. And through the crashing thunder, Designed to scare I’m sure, I screamed back my defiance, I even called for more. For this was I and Nature, […]
When after fifteen minutes, I haven’t breathed at all, It’s best to snuff the candle out, I answered Final Call; No need to get upset, dear, For souls can never cease, You know we’re still together, And for sure I’m now at peace. . When, after fifteen hours, […]
It was when the grind and grumble, Of those wagons passed this way, The colour-sergeant’s bark was never meek, The sighing strain of steel, That was bound fast to the wheel, Was melody to rumble and to squeak. . Those tracks are overgrown, Now the earth reclaims its […]
Michael Walsh Stories and Books 
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