Irish Families
written by: Anne Higgins
Doing penance for our sins,
offering it up,
we’re fond of company,
whiskey,
and Jansenism.
We tell this joke on ourselves:
Irish Alzheimer’s?
You forget everything
but the grudges.
Our folk dance features
deft and flying feet,
while the rest of the body
freezes rigid, expressionless.
That’s so Irish,
we say of each other’s
verbal innuendo,
ambiguity,
interruptions,
non-sequitors.
We’re talking Irish –
masters of verbal obscurity,
group conversation as
double talk
obfuscation.
What a word that is!
The art of obvious fuses,
fusty effusions,
indirection,
bombastic, belligérant, sentimental,
a terror to our enemies,
a joy to our friends,
a jig of mystery
at home.
Anne Higgins teaches at Mount Saint Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Nine books of her poetry have been published: At the Year's Elbow, Scattered Showers in a Clear Sky, Pick It Up and Read, How the Hand Behaves, Digging for God, Vexed Questions, Reconnaissance, Life List, and now Not Only/But Also. More than 100 of her poems have appeared in journals and magazines, and they have been featured frequently on The Writer's Almanac. She has given readings at the Joaquin Miller Cabin and at Café Muse in Washington DC., and other venues on the East Coast.
Latest posts by Anne Higgins (see all)
- Irish Families - December 8, 2020
