Irish Lullabys (from Lifesongs 2)

Here's a few more from the past with an Irish taste to them:



I Knew You Then/I Know You Now

I knew you once before,
in a land far away,
we danced to the music
of a Celtic beat,
drinking pints of dark, sweet ale
until we fell laughing
within each others arms,
making love
until the new day dawned;

I knew you then,
I know you now.

There was another time,
another place,
lying on a fresh forest floor,
your long dark raven hair
falling down
around my face,
the smell of your womanhood
filling my mind and soul,
the taste of your precious lips
like delicious honey on mine;

I knew you then,
I know you now.

Do not forget,
listen for the voice
calling within your soul,
leading us back
to a place
that only we have seen,
only we have known;

I will know you then,
as I know you now.
_______________________

W.B. Yeats

Welcome old friend,
come in from the cold
and rest awhile,
I recognize your voice,
it is one I have heard
many times before,
the accent
was a little different
then
from what it is now,
but still
it is the same.

We have talked often
you and I,
during that soft
and painful transition,
as I tried to hold on
to the dark and dying night,
and you patiently waited
for the pale morning dawn.

You must tell me old friend,
have you found that precious
light of a new day
for which you waited
and searched
for so long?

Ah well,
nor could I
hang onto the darkness,
but what difference does it make?
it is in the trying
that matters most,
you and I
were never born
to live in the black
or the white;

it is the cracks in-between
where we belong.
____________________________

Dancin to the Chieftains

Round and round we go,
faster and faster we spin,
the beat of the drum,
the rythymn of the fiddle,
making our hearts grow light,
the flute ringing out
like a lost
and dear old friend,
ah these days
will last forever,
for they are all that matter,
sweeter
than the sweetest wine,
soft and tender
as the fairest young lasses
lips,
for surely we have passed
this way before;

if only in a dream.
.
.