The Irish Lion By Peter Kaczmarczyk

I mourned the day the Irish Lion

served its last glass of Writers Tears.

Many a night it had been my retreat

while the details of divorce rattled in my head,

banging about like the colorful balls

at the pool hall across the alley.

It was where a new life began

as ideas poured out onto paper,

poems and dreams unleashed by the atmosphere.

The bar offered a comfortable seat,

the manager a casual smile as she hurried by

in search of a misplaced drink or a misplaced waiter.

I was gazed down upon by stuffed pheasants,

surrounded by the Coats of Arms of families long forgotten,

while Ryan would serve me a bowl of coddle

with sour bread to warm the belly,

which he would complete with a dram or two of Glenfiddich

or the aforementioned Writers Tears.

It had been the perfect pub, a poet’s haven,

till rents and changing urban tastes took it from us.

Few college students entered

and no sports on screens competed for your attention.

There were only simple quiet tones of Irish music,

the soft murmur of good conversation,

and just the right hint of melancholy in the air.

Peter Kaczmarczyk was raised in New England and has lived the last 30 years in Southern Indiana. He has been writing poetry his whole life but has only recently pursued his writing seriously. 

Peter is always surrounded by cats, one of whom will draw blood if he spends too long writing. He accepts this as the price to be paid for pursuing his craft. 

Peter has been published in numerous journals and anthologies, and has also written a chapbook, Distant Yet Always Heard, published by Alien Buddha Press. 

Peter is also co-creator of the Captain Janeway Statue in Bloomington, Indiana.