‘Manx Cat, take Care’
The Manx cat comes to you by day,
A friendly cat, they all say.
He’ll not refuse gentle stroking,
A heart that’s soft, forget all grudging.
He looks for love that’s out of measure,
Filling his body with wholesome treasure.
But then he’s taken off so fast,
Into a basket he is cast.
What sad deceit has crept up now,
Earning money for thieves somehow.
Yes, now he’s going far from home,
Ripped by force, adrift, alone.
No longer simple, pure and clean,
For him, a trap that’s dirty, not serene.
Poor Manx cat, what can we do?
Melt away fast, Manxmen true?
We can stand and scratch and shout,
Not for us the boat and out.
Maybe there’s no answering,
What’s left is caterwauling.
©: (Manx text and translation): Brian Stowell.
Tabhair fé ndeara!:
Chuir an t‑údar an dán seo thuas chugam i litriú Gaelach ‘idirnáisiúnta’
chun go mbeinn féin agus daoine eile as Éirinn, as Albain is as áiteanna eile ábalta é a léamh gan
mórán stró.
N.B.:
The author sent the above poem to me in an ‘international’ Gaelic spelling so that myself and other readers of
that language from Scotland, Ireland and elsewhere could read it without too much difficulty.
Grianghraf eile / Another Photo:
Tá ‘Keesha’ sa tóir! / ‘Keesha’ is on the prowl!
Tá mé ar ais arís ach cár imigh sé féin? /
I’m back again but where’d himself go to?
Photo, ©: Alice Spencer.
Nascanna don Ghaeilge / Links to Irish / Gorgysylltiadau i’r Wyddeleg.
