Poem Of The Month: August 2015

For August's Poem of the Month, I have chosen the poem 'Joseph Phillips' by Gerry McDonnell.

It is taken from his collection I Heard an Irish Jew.

JOSEPH PHILLIPS

Here I lie in Ballybough Cemetery

at the West Wall,

Row II, North to South,

buried in a white shroud.

Under my head,

turned slightly to face east,

a bag of earth from Israel.

You’d pass me by easily enough,

since I’m without a headstone.

Stolen, one drunken night,

it’s serving as a hearthstone

in a house on nearby Richmond Road.

My grandson saw it there, poor boy,

while playing with his Catholic friend.

It reads –

Joseph Phillips, son of Uri. Native of Gorsd, Poland.

d. 6th. Kislev, 5640 (1879) aged 75.

That’s me.

I made a living peddling wares

and selling pious pictures

to my Catholic neighbours.

"I Heard an Irish Jew" is available to purchase below

The author has asserted her/his right under Section 77

to be identified as the author of this work.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is available from

the British Library.