Poem
Ian Duhig
Come the Morning
Come the Morning
Come the Morning
(air: The Trees They Do Grow High)As the trees lose all their leaves
evenings close round me
and I think on all the dreams that’s passed
since my young man I seen;
now I must make my bed
in the crook of this blind lane
with a bonny boy who’s young, but who’s growing.
When we were both fifteen
with him I fell in love;
the morning of his sixteenth year
I delivered him a son;
before my man was seventeen
on his grave the grass grew green:
pure heroin buried him, now he’s growing.
They sold my love a shroud
of the oriental brown:
for each needle’s stitch I found in it
O a tear it did run down;
who once I kissed so hungrily
kissed the night below,
not his own flesh and blood, nor sees him growing.
They came to take my baby
in the middle of the night;
It’s for the best, one bastard said
and I’m sure that she was right;
O I’d never walk these streets alone
and now they are my home –
I\'ve forgotten all your names
come the morning.
© 1994, Ian Duhig
From: The Mersey Goldfish
Publisher: Bloodaxe, Newcastle
From: The Mersey Goldfish
Publisher: Bloodaxe, Newcastle
Ian Duhig
(United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 1954)
Duhig is known as a modern balladeer, using folklore and medieval stories to satirise the contemporary scene. His poetry spans interpretations of medieval myths to verses on the humble string vest. Duhig has a keen metrical ear, often harnessing Irish songs, hymns, ballads and old French metre to a modern subject. His poetry is frequently funny, and Duhig is not averse to slipping in an anachro...
Poems
Poems of Ian Duhig
Close
Come the Morning
(air: The Trees They Do Grow High)As the trees lose all their leaves
evenings close round me
and I think on all the dreams that’s passed
since my young man I seen;
now I must make my bed
in the crook of this blind lane
with a bonny boy who’s young, but who’s growing.
When we were both fifteen
with him I fell in love;
the morning of his sixteenth year
I delivered him a son;
before my man was seventeen
on his grave the grass grew green:
pure heroin buried him, now he’s growing.
They sold my love a shroud
of the oriental brown:
for each needle’s stitch I found in it
O a tear it did run down;
who once I kissed so hungrily
kissed the night below,
not his own flesh and blood, nor sees him growing.
They came to take my baby
in the middle of the night;
It’s for the best, one bastard said
and I’m sure that she was right;
O I’d never walk these streets alone
and now they are my home –
I\'ve forgotten all your names
come the morning.
From: The Mersey Goldfish
Come the Morning
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