Thanks (for Paul Durcan)

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Thanks

Thanks for Jeff Tweedy
Thanks for Annette Bening
Thanks for Michael Stipe
Thanks for John Lennon.

Thanks for Lucinda Williams
Thanks for Jurgen Klopp
Thanks for Paul Durcan
Thanks for Roger McGough

Thank for Sally Rooney
Thanks for Saul Bellow
Thanks for T.S. Eliot
Thanks for Elvis Costello

Thanks for Billy Collins
Thanks for Bob Dylan
Thanks for Linda Ronstadt
Little Feat and ‘Willin’.

This is an edit of a previous post. The Irish poet, Paul Durcan died on May17 and he gets a mention in this poem along with Roger McGough and TS Eliot.

Paul was a quintessentially Irish poet and yet he was very different from contemporaries like Seamus Heaney in that his poetry was urban rather than rural, and he was witty, fiercely satirical and at times painfully honest about his personal life. He was not afraid to show vulnerability. I’m just now re-reading his collections “Daddy, Daddy” about his fraught relationship with his father and “The Berlin Wall Cafe” about the breakup of his marriage. Both collections are funny, sad and complex and the twin ogres of church and state are there on every page. It does not get more Irish than that! Rest in Peace, Paul!

Taking part in Open Link over at dverse.

12 thoughts on “Thanks (for Paul Durcan)”

  4. Brendan's avatarBrendan

    A bit like Merwin’s “Lament for the Makers,” more stringed than versed … Amen to ’em all. (PS we had a guy in our college dorm namedTweedy, and we voted unaanimouslyto name his parakeet Tweedy Bird.)

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  5. Tim Rice's avatarTim Rice

    Hi Jim
    Hope you are keeping well.

    Had to reply to your poem/comments about Paul Durcan.
    I don’t know much about Irish poets, but here’s the thing :

    A few days ago I was reading an article by Michael D Higgins about Paul Durcan.
    They were obviously good friends, and the article was such that, unusually for me, I continued to the end.
    And, also unusually for me, in a random rush of blood to the head, I went online and ordered two books of Durcans poetry – 80 at 80 and something about an Irish caveman.

    Then, you come out with the poem – is that not a spooky coincidence!

    So, keep up the good work. I also enjoy your comments about music.

    Kind regards
    Tim

    Sent from Outlook for Androidhttps://aka.ms/AAb9ysg

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    1. sdtp33's avatarsdtp33 Post author

      Great to hear from you Tim! That is indeed a coincidence, seems like we’re still in sync. Probably a throwback to when we played “Gloria” together, except you were always more in sync than me! Enjoy the books, he’s one of my favourite poets! All the best…JIM

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  7. navasolanature's avatarnavasolanature

    Thanks for the introduction to Paul Durcan and am sorry I am learning about his poetry now that he has passed. Seamus Heaney was a favourite but there is much to be found in the urban settings of most peoples’ lives.

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  8. Frewin55's avatarFrewin55

    A great list poem Jim and I concur with almost all your nominees for thanks (except I am not as football fan so I can’t speak to Jurgen Klopp). I encountered Paul Durcan’s work when I lived in Ireland for ten years – in particular his two books of ekphrastic poems on paintings from the National Gallery – they are witty and profound in equal measure.

    It makes me weep to think of Linda Ronstadt losing her voice to Parkinson’s – she sang in so many genres with her mellifluous voice and for someone not a songwriter, she sang the definitive version of so many songs. My favourite albums other than her collaborative Trio ones – Cansons di mi Padre…

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