OurEcho Everyone has a story. What's Yours?

This story and more like it can be found at http://www.ourecho.com/story-2724.shtml

ODE TO A BUTT

Story ID:2724
Written by:Veronica Breen Hogle
Organization:Irish Cultural Events
Story type:Poem
Writers Conference:$500 2007 Family Memories Writing Project
Location:Bagenalstown Co. Carlow Ireland
Year:1955
Person:Eileen Breen
ODE TO A BUTT

Poem number 11 by the late Eileen Breen
March 27, 1916 - May 5, 2006
______________________________________

ODE TO A BUTT

Oh, glowing end beneath the grate
Lying alone, deserving better fate
You’ve soothed turmoil in my savage breast
And burned a hole within my wooly vest
Your smoke rings rose like halos ‘round my head
Charming last conscience hours of mine in bed

And now you lie there waiting to be swept
Into the dust, unhonoured and unwept
To hold you to my trembling lips again
I fain would do, but it would cause me pain
So I must say farewell to you, my friend
Smoked and consumed until the bitter end.

___________________________________
Note: Eileen Breen smoked as a young girl and woman.
She stopped when she was in her 30s because
"The smoke was makin' the ceilings yellow, hidin' in the curtains
and smellin'up the whole house,"
was her reason.
OurEcho is a FREE SERVICE dedicated to capturing and sharing the individual "bits and pieces" that define our local communities. It might be a bit of interesting local history, an old photograph, a special memory or just a funny story. We are particularly interested in those fascinating and intriguing events/people (both large and small) that we all encounter as part of the human experience. It might be something that happened recently or something passed down to you through your family. Our goal is to provide a forum for local communities to share who they are through their stories and photographs. When you take the time to share these reflection with others, you help us better understand you, the world we live in, and if we are lucky, they help us better understand ourselves.