Thank you for this. I grew up in an Irish Catholic family in an Irish neighborhood and we used to play that we were in the provisionals with our toy guns.
As I got older my dad asked me not to put money in the hat at the pub when they collected for NorAid as it was probably going to Whitey to send AR-15s from Boston to Derry.
On a happier note, I'm in an anthology with Pádraig Ó Tuama out in May from Hachette, which is pretty wild for me.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I can only imagine how deeply the Troubles impacted you as you were growing up. I will definitely check out the anthology. What is it called? I’d love to preorder it.
It's editted by James Crews and Brad Peacock - I have a poem and an essay about my late son. Ada Limón, Ellen Bass, Audre Lorde, Richard Blanco and many others are represented.
Love Is for All of Us: Poems of Tenderness and Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community and Friends https://g.co/kgs/5gHyzk9
Ordering it now. It sounds wonderful. (I am sorry you lost your son. I hope you can find comfort in your memories of him and in the companionship of others who love him as you do.)
Our loss, and he lost the most obviously, now defines me. Not all of that is good. I am sorry that the world is even more hostile for people like my Alex and will do what I can to fight on their side and just tell them they are loved.
Thank you for this. I grew up in an Irish Catholic family in an Irish neighborhood and we used to play that we were in the provisionals with our toy guns.
As I got older my dad asked me not to put money in the hat at the pub when they collected for NorAid as it was probably going to Whitey to send AR-15s from Boston to Derry.
On a happier note, I'm in an anthology with Pádraig Ó Tuama out in May from Hachette, which is pretty wild for me.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting. I can only imagine how deeply the Troubles impacted you as you were growing up. I will definitely check out the anthology. What is it called? I’d love to preorder it.
It's editted by James Crews and Brad Peacock - I have a poem and an essay about my late son. Ada Limón, Ellen Bass, Audre Lorde, Richard Blanco and many others are represented.
Love Is for All of Us: Poems of Tenderness and Belonging from the LGBTQ+ Community and Friends https://g.co/kgs/5gHyzk9
Ordering it now. It sounds wonderful. (I am sorry you lost your son. I hope you can find comfort in your memories of him and in the companionship of others who love him as you do.)
Our loss, and he lost the most obviously, now defines me. Not all of that is good. I am sorry that the world is even more hostile for people like my Alex and will do what I can to fight on their side and just tell them they are loved.