Do not take a side he said
He now growing old
Not like when he was young
Wanting to be bold
Evicted from his home a child
Left his native land
Lost an arm in a factory
Words now his command
Planned to fight for freedom
Imprisoned for his pains
Seven long years he suffered there
Suffering can bring gains
All his life an activist
The poor man to uphold
Politics and the power of pen
Guns leave people cold
Sitting for a portrait
Days now getting short
Gives advice to painter
How battles should be fought
Take no side he tells him
Live in this world and learn
How to savour beauty
To every one his turn
Injustice calls for action
Young men’s blood runs hot
But anger only leads to death
Violence is rot
The boy who lost his home so young
Was given a cottage back
A gift from those who followed him
Out in Ballybrack
That first injustice back in Straide
Set him on the road
He became a freedom fighter
He carried the poor man’s load
The painter told the story
Of Michael Davitt’s view
How life had brought him wisdom
We must do what we can do
Brian Fahy
20 September 2022
Erris Poetry 