St. Patrick's Day

I'm happy of my Irish heritage, and St. Patrick's day is a day to appreciate it. Yes, a malt beverage is certainly in my future today, but so is a little poetry. This year, take a moment and enjoy Patrick Kavanagh:

EPIC
by Patrick Kavanagh

I have lived in important places, times
When great events were decided : who owned
That half a rood of rock, a no-man's land
Surrounded by our pitchfork-armed claims.

I heard the Duffys shouting "Damn your soul"
And old McCabe stripped to the waist, seen
Step the plot defying blue cast-steel -
"Here is the march along these iron stones."

That was the year of the Munich bother. Which
Was most important ? I inclined
To lose my faith in Ballyrush and Gortin
Till Homer's ghost came whispering to my mind.
He said : I made the Iliad from such
A local row. Gods make their own importance.
1938

If you like that, there is more here.