So Close to Christmas

They’re burying Tim O’ Sullivan today

A man who lived beyond his years

He told me a long time ago

There would be a flood of crocodile tears

‘They’re flightless friends’ he said

‘They might show up when I’m dead

In their finery and fancy cars

They’ll be the last ones in the church

And the first ones at the bar’

They’re burying Tim O’Sullivan today

A man I knew from the Port Mahon

A place lit full of Celtic migrants

A long way from home

‘This place can be a hovel’ he said

‘With men of malice,

Fighting for the attention

Of Kilkenny Alice

I laughed at the pitiful charm’

They’re burying Tim O’Sullivan today

It’s a cold December morn

They’re lifting the coffin into the hearse

I see faces rugged and torn

‘You must love like you mean it’ He said

‘Always keep an open door

Love will take you through the ceiling

And throw you to the floor

And you’ll always come back for more’

They buried Tim O’Sullivan today

‘I took your secrets to my grave’

Was written in marbled stone

They said goodbye to Tim O’Sullivan

So close to Christmas

So far from home.

©JMcN2017