Eulogy on a Dead Minstral

to Liam Rowsome

By Séamus McDonnell

I

Stand up now Liam and argue until the cows come home with the angelic chorus.
You seemed to grace this world all in a fluster and a gush of conversation.
Was it not yesterday that you stood at my door looking wild and slowly coming to the boil
Until you exploded into a terse argument or indulged in a lofty converse on Philosophy, Theology?
Or who knows what.

It is in those excited states, when all electrified and loquacious, I remember you Liam.

So until we argue in Plato's Republic in Heaven
Farewell Liam


II

Like a Phantom you raged through this troubled world
Determined to make it a better place until, like a sapling, you broke and left us all but an image of yourself and your beloved fiddle.

The Eternal Power which you so feared and loved laid you low until the final trumpet

And should we? Me and you, whisper to each other
Let us pretend not to hear it.

This is how I remember you, Liam.
Your good friend,
Séamus McDonnell