Irish Spring

Plowing Nugent Sod

By: Charles Giuliano - Mar 20, 2017

Irish Spring

Leftovers last night
Corned beef and cabbage
What the Irish feasted on
Last of the root cellar
All in one pot
Before spring planting
Peas by Fourth of July
Those that survived
The terrible famine
Crossing in black ships
Dirt poor peasants
Nugents came later
Patrick and Mary
Settled in Gloucester
He dead at 50 in 1900
Left her with thirteen
Three died in 1913
So my mother told me
Six hours of tape
On the road 1984
Annual commute
Always an adventure
Palm Beach to Annisquam
This winter transcribed
Living with her
So funny and lively
Her unique language
Months of labor
Again on the road
Making a book
Digging deep into clan
Plowing its sod
Fetid peat bogs
Turning over
Clumps of memory
Furrows for seeding
Composted detritus
Unearthing lost souls
Triumph and tragedy
An American tale
Of Celtic dreamers
Gone but not forgotten