Poguemahone, p.43
Poguemahone, page 43
in their stride.
Then Una began laughing as she told them
all there was to know about Troy.
Or should I say
‘my Scotsman Sea-God!’ she
giggled, a little shyly.
With the páistí just continuing to
gaze blankly across the table at her,
as she continued.
I don’t mean to boast
they heard her explain,
but, in another world,
some universe where
all things are equal
& opportunities are
not being denied
my Troy, without fail
he could have been
a professional performer
A professional performer? the little girl said.
Yes, replied Una
not for one second noticing
how profoundly agitated their
grandmother was
actually becoming
looking everywhere
for a nurse
so far without success
chafing her hands
as though only now realising
just to what degree
she was, in fact, out of her depth.
A fact which
was scarcely surprising,
in the circumstances.
I would definitely say the West End
yes, for sure.
I was in the West End before, said the girl.
But Una wasn’t listening to a word that
either of them said
leaning back in her seat
turning Bobbieann
upside down and righting her again
steeling herself, privately,
against the lurking dread
of the dark blinking neon
green for Danger
UXB
that was always there
at the back of her mind
a shell at any moment
threatening to go phléasc!
doing her level best to smile
as she wound the arms of
the little dolly
this way & that
taking a deep breath as
the train suddenly lurched forward
wagging her finger as she shook
her head and said to the children
in an almost perfect Scottish burr
you do not, my girl
have tae worry your heed
for I love it so much
your angelic face
fair turned me sideways
up and doon
so you have – I wisnae ready
tae be smitten,
Una Fogarty frae Currabawn,
what’ve ye gone and done?
They’d been up at the heath
again that day
enjoying a picnic
before heading back out to
Putney.
It’s-A-Two-Foot-Six-Inches-Above-
The-Ground-World
was the play that Troy had been
directing at that particular time
& he had promised the actors
not to be stoned.
Nae so much as a drag shall
pass these lips! he had promised them
without fail
the day before in The Bedford
but already he was late
& was showing no signs of great concern
about it,
as he and Una lay there beside the pond
with fingers entwined
listening to King Crimson on the
portable cassette.
You are my consort, the lovely Amphitrite,
he had smiled
tickling her nostrils with a
long stem of grass
& I shall always be your Poseidon.
Before climbing into the fork of a
tree and delivering, for her benefit alone,
his pièce-de-résistance, by Edward Thomas
For you and all the birds of the world, my lady
when the first ray of sunshine brings forth
joyous notes from their throats
the sensation of well-being
of wings still moist from
the bath spread out to the light
the joy of being together
of having the same plumage
let them know
that I remember Adlestrop
&
all of their kin.
As back down he came
& the pair of them sighed
as they lay there on their backs
finishing off what was left of the food
observing them closely
those heroes of the air
making successive oblique dives
toward the ground before
finally rebounding once more into the sky.
Why do you think they sing? he
whispered
because they have to, Troy, she smiled,
or maybe they could be trying to
communicate
warn us, maybe, he suggested,
somewhat vacantly,
no, rejoicing, she insisted
as he forgot all about it
& kissed his Lady Ocean
You’ll never leave me, said Una
as she smiled.
‘I’ll never leave you,’ vowed Troy McClory
chewing on the stem of his Ian Hunter
shades
turning over
yes, turning over on the picnic rug
on his side
because for us
there is but one
abiding kingdom
Poseidon &
Amphitrite
together
in their
u
n
d
e
r
s
e
a
k
i
n
g
d
o
m
My one and only love
Una Fogarty
Queen of Currabawn,
both now
&
forever.
Then Una said to the páistí
in the train,
using Bobbieann to illustrate her words
& it was after making that commitment
which we both knew, even in those times
of free love & no possessions
to be the absolute and unvarnished truth
that the following weekend
on the very same train
we made our way out here
to Margate
yes, to the private wonderland
of our own precious Watertown
there to store up memories
which we knew would sustain
the pair of us forever
the pair of us forever
yes, the pair of us forever
lying there on the golden sand
the golden sand
of the glittering beach
of Watertown
where nothing
in the universe
would ever bother
either of us
ever again
as he took them off
his Ian Hunter shades
& looked right into my eyes.
All the things I remember
that he used to say
Sew me a shirt that doesn’t have a seam
wash it in a well that will
remain forever dry.
The impossible realised, she said
to the children
who, this time, neglected to make any comment
having been discreetly dissuaded
by their chaperone.
Angela Carter, went on Una,
she died too
just when her dream was only beginning
later on giving birth to the most
beautiful infant
but then isn’t every infant beautiful
said Una
yes every little babogue in the world
possessing its very own special &
unique magic
isn’t that right, childre
childre don’t you think –
nach bhfuil an cheart agam, eh?
Eh?
ha ha ha ha!
Tossing her head back &
laughing even more robustly as the train
now at last pulled into Margate station
& all of a sudden, she started
furiously leathering the table with
the doll
& shouting at the top of her voice
first at Bobbie
& then at Ann
bashing it this way & then
the other
until she was really
quite hopelessly out of breath
as she searched her bag for
another piece of tissue
or a napkin,
anything
to wipe her brow
because she really was
out of sorts
&
all of a-dither
as she twisted her face up
and rasped hoarsely at
the babogue
now, it has to be said,
looking more than a little
the worse for wear
what are you looking at
Fogarty, she said
what are you making those eyes
at me for
do you hear me, Bobbie
Bobbie do you hear me
& you too, Annie
yes Miss Madam
listen to me whenever I
am talking
because I really do feel
that you two, both of
you have caused quite
enough
trouble
yes given me
more
than my share
of trioblóid ha
ha
phew
o
boys
God in
heaven
I
am
tuirseach
yes I am
o but I am
o yes yes
very tired indeed
sooooooooooooooooooooo
exhaust. . . . . . . . .
as the train idled into Margate station.
& sprightly Miss Una Fogarty
for all the world like a spindly brown twig
made her way towards the foreshore
of Watertown
skipping & singing
&
swinging dolly as she went
come along babogue
yes, come along
really quite amazed
by the numbers
that she found
waiting for her there
by the esplanade
just as she came around the
corner
with the world & its mother
seeming to be present,
colourfully sprawled
in front of the beach huts
with their buckets & spades
as a brass band oom-paahed
& fairground organ music eddied
from a great big candy-striped
marquee
pitched on the Oval Lawns
as a megaphone barked
’allo ’allo ’allo
why not purchase a nice tasty whelk
fresh from the waters of the sea
here in Margate
indeed why not bring one home
for your tea?
Not right now
I’m sorry but I’m busy,
replied Una.
Tripping awkwardly on a piece
of driftwood
& going & spilling
all her money
yes, all the coins that she
had in her pocket
& then having to bend down
damn & blast
to make it her business to pick them all up
with Bobbieann looking up
as if to say silly
o keep quiet you thrawneen
laughed Una
counting the pennies out
one by one
yes
one
two
three
four
five
six
coins
right
back
inside her purse
where they belonged
did you enjoy
the trip
said Una to Bobbie
the trip my dear
I hope you did enjoy it
& you, lickle Ann,
what about you
enjoy it did you
but the páistí said
no because it had
made them too excited
& that was why they had to go away
& Una said I know what you mean
however because you’ve been
good what you need is an ice cream
so come along now, páistí,
let’s youse & me go over there
to Peggy’s Ye Old Pavilion Tea Shoppe
As through the door
they sashayed like royalty.
Peggy Norton had been running
her little refreshment shack
Ye Olde Tea Shoppe
her pride and joy
she said,
for years
O years & years
she gonizing.
Why yonks,
she smiled,
yes it’s true
reminding
Una as she spoke
of the actress Irene Handl.
A right old busy bee
& no mistake
just like old
Margaret Rutherford
God knows
another no-nonsense rogue
always insisting how she’d
brook no slapdash work
& yet, all the same, considerate too
yes, kind & thoughtful
in her way
in spite of that flinty exterior
and dependable too.
So Una reckoned
on being able to trust
Miss Handl
& as a result
she just could not
wait to get chatting
to busy bee Peggy
the proprietress
but then she became aware
of a shadow, of half of one
very like the one she had sensed
while buying herself & the kiddies
an ice cream
that day in Queen’s Park
but then she looked again
to her immense relief
the shadow was gone
maybe she had only imagined it,
she thought,
& then what did she see
why, her heart nearly stopped.
Yes a great big sign
a huge painted wooden board reading:
MOTT THE HOOPLE
DREAMLAND 12 SEPT 2019
GRAND REUNION GIG!
with
original members, inc.
IAN HUNTER
& there he was
right there on a great big coloured poster
just as if they
had never parted
their lead singer
the rock god
with the exact same blonde hair
and trademark mirror shades
chewing gum, cocky as you
like.
Troy! she cried abruptly,
with her legs nearly buckling
underneath her,
as I live & breathe
do you see who it is
she said to the proprietress
wiping her hands behind the counter
of Ye Old Tea Shoppe
nearly fainting as she stood there
as Peggy Norton the proprietress
said in her voice that was the same
as Irene Handl’s
yes, by all means, dear, please
take a seat
& I’ll be down to you in a mo’
to attend to your needs
& that is exactly what Una Fogarty did
pull up a chair and sit down
by the window,
out of nowhere remembering
Troy as he’d held her not twenty yards
away, out there along the shore,
putting his tongue down her throat
& talking about King Crimson
& Fritz The Cat
& Rupert Bear
& The Flamin’ Groovies
Edward Bond
&
the two Angelas,
Davis
&
Carter.
Who are you
really
she could hear him plainly say
almost as clearly as if he were
standing right beside her
there in the tea shop
I don’t know, Troy
because all I do is clean silly offices
that was all she could think to
say
not that it mattered
because already he was taking
off all her clothes
and removing the King Crimson
album from its sleeve
to put it onto the stereo
handing over the joint
as she lay there
I adore you, Lady Ocean,
said Troy
to Una Fogarty
& to which she
was going to reply
thanks very much
but
who
was
that standing
there
just
outside
the window
yes, directly outside the window
of the tea shop
standing
looking in
was it a shadow
or a policeman
could
it
be
well, let it be
The Fuzz
if it wanted
because she didn’t care
as she took the arm
of Bobbie
& then the arm
of Ann
& ever so softly
began to sing
especially for Troy.
How beautiful it looked
that old Margate strand,
stretching away beyond the window
thinking of those words
those very same sentiments
spoken by her lover Troy
that day when they’d taken
refuge in the concrete shelter
along the seafront
as all of it came rushing back
you could even see the excitement
in her lovely dolly Bobbieann’s eyes:
Sweet stalls!
Sand!
Cotton dresses
&
the teensiest
pebbles.
Pebbles as small as pigeons’ eggs
Troy had written
somewhere in his notebook,
pebbles coloured
the blue
of heaven
in this New Arcadia
where
ferry boats
shuffle
in their slumber
past the
