Encounter

Encounter is a short story I wrote a long time ago. It was published together with some of my poems and works of other artists from Donegal in The Ratpit's September 1983 issue which was edited by John F. Deane, Frank Galligan.

I chanced to read it again and thought of sharing.

Come read with me the ENCOUNTER.

Will I see your note in my diary?

Waiting for Vesuvius

This is a poem about temper

.
Silence rained in my father's house

When his mind was on the prowl.

Great globular fear-drops

hung in the air of every room

as his brain battled with electro-taxis.

Intuition of early age

could smell the threat

and fear and love

fought their corners in my head

Until they fused and remained there,

forever confused.

Sometimes he would say,

'it's the simples thing in the world, OHMS law.

Once you have that you have it cracked.'

This triggered the switch

which shut down my mind.

Bits filtered through, out of context.

Anode, cathode, resistance, capacitor.

A miasmic cacophony of words

started my head nodding in dumb agreement

as I waited for Vesuvius.

Imbecile, ballocks and gobshite

were the names for me

which erupted from the object

of my love and fear.

I never did master OHMS law

but my dark moods can rain silence upon a room.

~~Aidan Sharkey

Christmas Day on Vlieland

He had a fist

that could stun an Ox

and a smile

that women could walk upon.

Mothers frightened their children

with tales of his wildness;

beyond earshot bigger men

threatened to lay him out.

He never punched a time-clock

nor wore a watch.

Dogs liked him

Parish priests did not;

his freedom was a bad example.

Only beauty could make him weep,

pain he absorbed

until it overflowed

and anger took the place of tears.

It tornadoed out of him

and sometimes

blew away a friend or two.

He could make an idiot

feel like a king,

and a learned man

feel like a fool.

He knew each bird by its song

and each man by his eyes

and in melancholy mood would croon

" Eyes tell no lies."

People said he was:

Mad; bad; a genius; afool;

a philanthropist; a philanderer;

a hero; a coward; a lover; a hater.

He was just a man.

No one remembers him now

he disappeared some time ago.

But I thought of him this morning

as I straightened my tie in the mirror.

~~Aidan Sharkey 1995

PS. It is not Christmas but I thought of him this morning again.

Walk to the Dunes

Went to the Dunes yesterday...first time doing this walk with Jose

It always feel good to be walking to the dunes all the way to the beach

then Jose had a beer at the beach while I had coffee. What a good boy!

We also saw the Poort van Bloemendaal which has 12 luxurious Seaview Hotel Apartments

Read their brochure? Impressive?

Turn Another Page

Always turn another page,

Always look for more;

Though fear may try to stay your hand

Seek out discovery shore.

Always ask the question.. Why?

But ask it of yourself

And don't expect the answer

On a book-filled dusty shelf

The pages you turn

Are the pages of years

And the knowledge you find

Is the wisdom of tears.

And the greater the wisdom

So, greater the pain.

But turn another page;

Then turn it again.

~~Aidan Sharkey

A short trip to Spaarndam

It was a lovely sunny day so I grabbed Jose and we walked to a lovely little village near Haarlem.....Spaarndam. Got some photos including one of a little church there.

On the way back we walked through a bird sanctuary and the sky was filled with geese.

Yup those flecks are flying geese...so small from a distance that it is hard to tell but I was able to get a shot of one bird near the river. Now is it just my imagination or does it have a ring?

The Cupola in Haarlem

This lovely round building is called a Cupola and guess what?
It is actually a prison! Nice prison, eh?

This Cupola in Haarlem is one of the three dome prisons in the Netherlands, the other two are in Arnhem and Breda. This was built from 1899 to 1901 by Architect WC Justice Metzelaar who followed the design of his father Johan Frederick Metzelaar who earlier built the cupolas in Arnhem and Breda.

Wonder what's the inside of this building?
Well I do too but don't intend to get inside, a view from a distance would be enough. However, Rene Bastiaanse had a tour of the Cupola in Breda in 2008 and you could watch it here and I guess it will be the same so you'll get an idea of the inside of the cupola.

Watch Rene Bastiaanse's video of the Cupola in Breda

HOPE

When it seems your dreams have passed you by

and all you want to do is cry;

When it looks like life is dark as night,

it's then that HOPE can make things right.

Within us all it's sometimes hidden

but you can call it to do your bidding.

If once again you would be whole

just look within your heart and soul.

See the child and feel the pain

and ask of God to live again.

Let the hurt you feel be real

and then your soul will start to heal.

Strength can come from seeing sorrow

and make you fit to face tomorrow.

Let the honest tears you cry

drown the past and let it die.

And as the past is washed away

you'll feel stronger day by day.

Once again you'll find your mind

and leave the tortured past behind.

God gives us the means to fight,

to conquer dark and welcome light.

So invite HOPE to your table to dine

in place of promises and wine.

~~Aidan Sharkey

In Dutch

Als het lijkt of je dromen zich verschuilen

En het enige dat je nog wilt is huilen

Als het leven voelt als een donkere nacht

Dan is het hoop dat het beter maakt dan verwacht

In ons allemaal lijkt het soms verstopt

Maar als je erom verzoekt en het zich ontpopt

Als het voor één keer een geheel is

Kijk dan naar binnen, niet naar het gemis

Zie het kind en voel de pijn

Vraag God er te mogen zijn

Laat de pijn die je voelt bestaan

Dan zal je het proces doorstaan

Kracht kan komen door het zien van zorgen

Het maakt je sterk voor een nieuwe dag, morgen

Laat je tranen eerlijkheid werven

Verdrink het verleden en laat het sterven

En als je de pijn kan laten in het verleden

Zal je je sterker voelen, dag na dag, nu in het heden

En als je je gevoel weer vindt

Laat de kwelling achter in wat geweest is, het kind

God geeft ons de reden om te vechten
Om het donkere te verslaan en op te komen voor onze echten

Zo nodig HOOP uit om mee te eten

In plaats van beloftes, die kun je beter vergete

Kevin Sharkey and Shaz Oye

My brother the Painter Kevin Sharkey with the lovely singer Shaz Oye at one of his openings.

SAINT BRIDGID

Today is the birthday of my sister Geradine which is easy to remember, not because of any special closeness between us, but because of Saint Brigid whose feast day it is. In many parts of old Ireland the older people still carry on the tradition of making crosses from the green rushes that grow profusely in poor marshy ground all over the hills and fields of Donegal. They are called, naturally enough, St. Bridgid crosses and are kept for a year beside some holy picture and then new ones are made the following.

She is one of the oldest Irish saints along with St. Patrick and Kevin and Colmcille.....Aidan came later!

As for Geradine, she is living at the other end of the country from Donegal way down in Kerry with her horses and Emily and a new grandchild. So happy birthday sister and long may you be fit and well enough to canter across the Kerry landscape with something substantial between your legs.

INVISIBLE

I must be invisible;
Everyone is served but me.
Been here for 15 minutes
And the servers come and go-
One even looked at me.
I just want a fucking coffee
But nobody sees me.

Then I get a clue-Bukowski-
I am reading his last book-
The posthumous Open All Night;
Maybe I've disappeared into it.

Yeah, that must be it.

~~Aidan Sharkey