Ballycotton: A poem

I remember the bygone days of yore

Summer days on cliff tops and feet on stony shore
The wailing of the fog machine calling loud and clear

The ships in deadly peril, the rocky coast too near

The life boat crew so brave and strong all a volunteer

Their women fretting nervously  on the windy pier
I remember the bygone days of yore

Summer days on cliff tops and feet on stony shore
The house’s drive bravely facing the windy coast

With a Georgian front and a resident ghost

The church where we prayed that the war was not lost

We remembered the dead and the lives it had cost
I remembered the bygone days of yore

Summer days on cliff tops and feet on stony shore
There was lots of joy and laughter and music for everyone

 Soapflakes on the pier made dancing so much fun

And singing along in the Bayview pub a chorus-not just one 

We were a gang of multinationals with all for one
An uncle a monk with a twinkle in his eye

Gave us leave to dance under the starry sky

Just a full rosary the required toll

Catholic knees a complaint from one and all

I remember the bygone days of yore

Summer days on cliff tops and feet on stony shore
Our fathers busy fishing, the purpose of their stay

And us children free to roam and dive like seals at play

We walked along the cliff tops and found a sandy bay

There we sunned and languished and some times smoked all day
I remember the bygone days of yore

Summer days on cliff tops and feet on stony shore
Someone should remember those long lost days of yore

With so much life and so much hope now nothing left to store

The fishermen long gone their boats and nets no more

But Ballycotton proud it stands, a beacon on the shore
Oh!  I can ne’er forget those bygone days of yore

Summer days on cliff tops and feet on stony shore
by Ita Standen-Raz
Dr. Ita Standen-Raz BA Hons(Oxon),MSc,ACE(Oxon),MEd Psych,D.Phil
40 Brunswick Gardens Kensington, London W8 4AL Mobile +447864051818 drstandenraz@yahoo.com