I am participating in my ninth Slice of Life Story Challenge run by the team behind the Two Writing Teachers website. We are challenged to write a blog post a day throughout the month of March.
Half Irish here, fully half
My mother's side marrying Irish
Until she broke the pattern.
Upon learning that fact
I longed for the red hair of my great-aunt
Green eyes to reflect the Emerald Isle.
But I have mousy brown curly hair
Eyes that look brown, too, unless
You look close enough to catch the flecks of moss.
I've settled for my own shades of green
On ankles and a shoulder
A clover, a knot, an owl.
I'll look for that red hair
On the heads of my
Grandchildren, one day.
Happy St Patrick's Day! May the luck o' the Irish be with ya'!
I chuckled when I read the last stanza. My cousin has the three red heads and she's a redhead. A few years ago I too thought my daughter might bear redheads.
ReplyDeleteLynn, there's a very good chance that my daughter's children will end up with red hair, but not because the Irish coming out--because her Polish/Hungarian/Irish blond, mixed with her Japanese husband's black-brown, may very well result in red-headed progeny. I love how genetics work!
DeleteI love the stanza that begins, "I've settled for my own shades of green..."
ReplyDeleteYou are a talented poet! I could use some tips on this. I am not at all used to writing poetry! Happy St. Patty's day!
Thank you for your kind words, Nawal! You can read more about those shades of green here: https://horizon51.blogspot.com/2017/03/2017-solc-day-4-new-ink.html and here: https://horizon51.blogspot.com/2017/03/2017-solc-day-17-irish-much.html
DeleteI bet those little redheads will come, some day! I don't look Irish either but I've got a lot of it on my dad's side. My aunt's a strawberry blonde. As I write this, The Quiet Man has come on TV and there's Maureen O'Hara in all her Irish glory. Happy St. Patrick's Day, Chris!
ReplyDeleteI hope you had a Happy St Patrick's Day too, Fran! After speaking with a Korean-American woman who married an Englishman and showed me pictures of their red-headed progeny, there is a chance my daughter may bear a red-head of her own. As for me, I inherited more Polish than Irish traits, I'm afraid, though some do say I favor my mother more than I think I do. If only I had gotten her dark Black Irish skin and thick hair that turned gloriously silver in her thirties...sigh.
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