an irish peom

an irish poem

today i read an article in the new yorker about irish playwright martin mcdonagh.
"when he was sixteen, he told (his brother) john a story based on an old folktale:
a lonely little boy is on a bridge at dusk when a sinister man approaches. the man is driving a cart on the back of which are foul-smelling animal cages.
the boy conquers his fear, offers the man some of his supper, and the two sit and talk. before the man leaves, he says that he wants to give the boy something whose value he may not understand but will soon come to appreciate.
the boy accepts.
the man takes a meat cleaver from his pocket and chops off the toes of the boy's right foot. as the man drives away, he tosses the boy's toes to the rats that have suddenly begun to gather in the gutters of the town, whose name, we now learn, is Hamelin.
the man is the Pied Piper, who saves Hamelin from the plague but kidnaps the local children when the town elders refuse to compensate him for his efforts. the boy is the only one of Hamelin's children to survive, because he cannot keep up with the other kids, who follow the Piper out of town."

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the irish
must all gifts come with pain??
either the boy was a fool,
or just plain lucky.

"jeekers crow!!!" he must have said.
did he meekly accept his reward, like a good irish boy?
a little pain will only make you better.
train til you drop. honor thy father. take this beating like a man. how many times can i hit you before you scream??
some wierd hazing ritual: hold your hand over the flame,son. god is on your side, son. don't be afraid, boy,it will only make you stronger.
do you dream of being on the cross, next to jesus? i'm with you sir...i can hang up here as long as you. why, no it doesn't hurt...well, it odes hurt a little but i can take the pain. just breathe into it.

my brother played football. of course,i did too. there was pride in taking a good hit, almost as much as when you hit some one hard, off the line,knocked him over with an unexpected force.
one day, for punishment....or was it sport? the coach called him over:
today you're up against popadopalos....yes, popadopalus. you can take him - only the biggest, strongest lineman on the team.
LINE UP AGAISNT HIM.
the first time, he knocked my brother over.
DO IT AGAIN.
the second time, he knocked him over.
doyou want this to continue? well it did, 10 times...
his head ringing, my brother left the field.
he had gaiend ne wfound respect form his coach and teammates.
he went on to be class president, twice.