The October* night was
dank and dark,
My footsteps clung to wet
pavements.
The road to home was a weary
walk,
A city centre deserted in
nervousness.
Uncertainty prowled around
all corners,
Randomness was the motive
of choice.
Madmen and mad people
loved murder,
Belfast was gripped within
this evilness.
In an unforgettable
instant death lurked,
The night exploded all
around and about.
Layers of orange light
enveloped the area,
Silence locked down
thoughts of life itself.
Fine glittering fragments
cascaded down,
An open bible fluttered on
the wet footpath.
Its owner rushed to seek
comfort from me,
Assuming this hellish
scene was not heaven.
The grim realities of
wishful ideologies tolled,
A premature detonation
killed three cowards.
Their deed undone by
bravado and bad timing,
Actions remembered in the statistics
of history.
Excuses mimicked as passionate
causes to repair,
Innocent victims fell wherever
luck had led them.
Memories will forever rest
upon that happening,
Heroes and cowards
separated by conscious acts.
©Copyright Eileen T O’Neill 03/12/2014
Poets United
Mid-Week Motif: ‘ A Date that will Live in Infamy, or A Bomb of a Day.’
*Saturday 16
October 1976
Three members
of the IRA were killed when a bomb they were planting exploded prematurely at
Belfast Gas Works, Ormeau Road, Belfast.
Eileen, what a harrowing thing to experience. I love the strength and power in your closing lines.
ReplyDeletePow! You made this so vivid in orange light!
ReplyDeleteI especially like:
"An open bible fluttered on the wet footpath.
Its owner rushed to seek comfort from me,
Assuming this hellish scene was not heaven."
It's never heaven when explosives are involved.
That must have been such a horrible time for you, Eileen. You wrote it SO very vividly. I can understand why this would live on in your mind. I am glad that things have settled down there now!
ReplyDeletePowerful and insightful writing, but so many of us are poor at learning our lessons and don't pay attention in class.
ReplyDeleteWhat a night to remember, I hope to never experience such a thing. You so vividly expressed it, well written.
ReplyDeleteIntense and powerful - you have drawn many haunting images here that reverberate like a blast out of nowhere.
ReplyDelete