Civil War, June 28th 1922

by Oisín Meenan

The possibilities of bombs causing explosions,

I was ordering a table for two,

The people were waiting for food,

All of sudden a loud bang,

People screaming and panicking.

 

Everyone ran out to see what that was,

All see fallen buildings,

Devastation from destruction,

Fire and long from a gun,

I didn’t hesitate and did a fast run,

And a huge shadow was over me.

 

A huge building fell on me,

Whoever did this must be laughing at me.

The people that saw couldn’t even see,

My head was close to dip in the sea,

Across I see a lot of smoke in the sky,

People screaming like they will die.

Written by Oisín Meenan as part of Poetry as Commemoration workshops led by Lucinda Jacob in St. Matthew’s National School, Sandymount in May 2022.