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Eireann go Brea

Eireann go brea.

Well now we're truly broke,the party's done.

And those who had great riches now have none.

And those who dreamed the dream can only weep,

And slosh around in debt a fathom deep.

Our discourse laden down with gloom and strife.

The doom so thick you'd cut it with a knife.

Zombie banks are feeding on our flesh,

Insatiable, each day they start a fresh.

The great and good have many things to hide

The old,the poor,the sick are cast aside.

Corrupted by their greed our leaders lie,

Transfixed we watch our childern's futures die.

We'll whinge ourselves to death but never act,

As former friends devise some new attack.

The Irish lemmings racing to the cliff,

The cute hoors holding back to bag a spiff.

And experts chart another good way out.

Some say head for north,some say south.

Despondency is giving way to dread,

Our self regard is hanging from a thread.

If talk could cure our ills we'd never ail.

The only thing we've learned is how to fail.

Debate won't cut the mustard any more,

It's time to take a stand

It's time to roar,

david shelton
May 2011

Walking in Daisy Fields

Walking in Daisy Fields.

Countless daisies shooting up,

Interspersed with buttercup.

A blanket white with yellow speck.

My footfall crush the tender neck

Of fragile life that strives to grow

Despite adversity unknown.

Yet they prosper where they are

Each single one no other knows.

Nor speak, nor see, nor hear,

But touch in gentle breeze

That often blow.

What message sent or tussle settled

At each caress of tiny petal.

Order rules this mass display.

A short time here then gone away.

David Shelton.

Bills

Bills

Total of your last bill

Payments made since then

Balance carried forward

(heart attack again)

Recurring charges added

Add arrears to this

Total due on this bill

(suicide is bliss)

Payment due by 13th.

Credit card or cheque

Bank or the post office

(total nervous wreck)

Freefone for assistance

Pay or service cut

Thank you for your custom

(maniacal nut)

david shelton

Racism

Racism

I’m a racist.

It’s the colour of your skin

It’s your home I’ve never seen

It’s the language that you speak

It’s the freedom that you seek

It’s a culture that is new

I’m superior to you

It’s your pain I cannot see

You’re not welcome here with me

It’s the fear I hold inside

It’s my ignorance and pride

I’m not tolerant of change

To my prejudice I’m chained

I’m a racist

To the world my gift will be

A hatefull and divisive legacy.

david shelton

New Yorkers

New Yorkers

The world looked on in disbelief
And watched two towers fall.
Then watched New Yorkers rise up
Responding to the call.
The task that they were facing
Would put them to the test.
But they soldiered on regardless,
America's best.

They never flinched despite their grief
For friends and family killed.
The dangers faced and then erased
From minds of metal will.

The nation watched in wonder

Their pride was rising fast  

Their self belief cemented by

America's best    

The tragedy of lives destroyed

In such an evil way

Creates a wound thats hard to heal

In any normal way.

But let us look for comfort

And relief from our distress,

By learning what true strength is ,from,

 America's best

David Shelton
.

Lord.

Lord.

Are you up there Lord.

Are you still up there

Seated at the right hand.

Are you up there Lord

Are you looking down Lord.

Can you see me

Can you see me.

Can you

.

Holding my dead child.

Dead from starvation.

Can you see me Lord.

Can you see me.

Can you.

Is she with you Lord

 Is she with you.

Is she.

david shelton

Birds

Useless witness

No one saw it falling,

When it hit his head

 he died instantly.

A bird flying nearby

Saw the whole thing

But kept flying.

Birds are like that.

Speed Kills

The speeding car was red.

A rescue worker said

“ It hit the wall, we took the call”

Red car –Stone wall-Four dead.

“The speeding car was red”

A Garda sergant said.

His report, very short,

Red car-Stone wall-Four dead.

“The speeding car was red”

The television said.

On the screen a gruesome scene.

Red car-Stone wall-four dead.

The speeding car was red.

A grieving parent said

“Tell your boys cars aren’t toys”

Red car-Stone wall-Four dead.

“The speeding car was red”

A local pastor said.

A pealing bell, A Last farewell.

Red car- Stone wall-Four dead.

“The speeding car was red”

Everybody said.

But in a jot we all forgot

Red car-Stone wall-Four dead

david shelton

Oak and Daffodil

Oak and Daffodil

Spring daffodils in clusters grow

Beneath it’s low and leafy boughs.

There, sipping clear and crystal dew,

In shaded light of yellow glow.

Both sharing earth with silent grace.

So natures goodness is endowed.

And morning breezes rise anew

To soothe and cool this gentle place.

Mossy green in shaded hollow.

Rising roots all knots and gnurls.

Springs new growth and old Patrician

Show the way that we might follow.

david shelton

Short Ode to Love

The day I fell into love

I fell into life

I fell into living.

Don’t pick me up.

Let me lie where I am.

david shelton

Hurt that won't heal

Does night time always draw your tears,

And darkness reawaken fears,

That slumber through the daytime light.

Then stirring with approaching night

To haunt you as they have for years.

Does nighttime always draw your tears

Does night time always bring the pain?

Will wounds this old always remain.?

A childhood crushed by one you trust,

With sinful deeds to slake a lust.

You’ll try to sleep,you’ll try in vain.

Does nighttime always bring the pain.

Now in the dark you sit alone

Your heart takes on the weight of stone.

Pale lips collect the salty tears.

How many now through all the years?

You wish again this pain was gone.

Now in the dark you sit alone.

David Shelton

Soldier

Soldier  

Soldier will you tell me,

Now  your heading off to war.

Will the people who you kill today

Know what they're dying for?

Soldier will you tell me,

Now your coming home from war.

Did you know when you were killed today

What you were dying for?

Soldier will you tell me,

Now they say a last goodbye.

Do the loved ones who you leave behind

Know why their soldier died?

David shelton

2008

The Trout

The Trout

I wade into the water to the hip.

And stall and strain against the river’s push.

And on the bed those round deceptive rocks,

At first refuse and then allow me grip.

Then when a steady stance I can attain,

And feathered lure is ready for the cast,

A feeling that I’v often had before,

Tells me my efforts may all be in vain.

But banishing this boyish malady,

Determined that the battle should begin,

I survey right and left and right again,

To find just where the gamest foe might be.

From shoulder through the elbow to the wrist,

The power drives the cane to do it’s work.

The “Wicklow Killer” soars before it drops.

Delivered with that final, gentle twist.

A lazy brown observes this with distain.

And did he turn and smile as though to say,

“I know this trick, I know this little game,

It fooled me once, I’ll not be fooled again”.

David Shelton.

2010