THE LAST JANT (Paul O’Brien)
We were sipping on our “last drinks”
Getting ready for to leave
John said “He’s gone thirty years
It’s hard to believe”
“Lately all my memories
Run like films in black and white
There sound is poor and fading
The picture’s not quite right”
Howth Head in the background
The foreground is the sea
I’m looking up at mammy
She’s looking back at me
The car in front is turning left
It’s long and it’s black
A stranger at the wheel
And daddy’s in the back
One last jant along the coast
One last look across the bay
Daddy would have wanted it that way
We follow at a distance
I’m still taking in the view
The choppy waves, the boats
Reminding me of you
The car in front is slowing down
The driver gives a sign
The world is turning slower
He’s playing a trick on time
Stepping onto gravel
Mammy takes my hand
Someone asks how’s she keeping
She says, “Sure, we’ll be grand”
The driver wipes his forehead
Stops taking to his mate
Then we drive back empty
Through the cemetery gates