If you can't speak the truth - Recite It

clare | anti-war / imperialism | feature

Friday February 08, 2008 01:04

by The Rhyming Subversives

A breach of warport security?

Masked Poets Seem to be unstoppable in Shannon Warport

wags and activists may be unseen and silent in modern ireland
but na filid gather crowds to hear their message even in 2008 Shannon

“O come all ye travellers & give ear to what I say:
Where do you go and why, upon this St Bridget’s Day?
… Let me carry my tale
To the horrors that lie here,
Here, here, behind the veil.
How many planes
Full of captives in chains?
Where will they go?
To the cages of Guantánamo?
Will government try
To discover where and why?
… What would Bridget have said, had it entered her head
That this would be the destiny of the land where she lies dead?”

The Shannon Rhyming Subversives

They engaged with travellers in the restaurant by the simple method of going round each table wishing them a happy feast day, giving them a flyer as a memento of the day, and asking if they would like a recitation of some verses. Most tables agreed and then were given their own personal recitation: --
“O come all ye travellers & give ear to what I say:
Where do you go and why, upon this St Bridget’s Day?
… Let me carry my tale
To the horrors that lie here,
Here, here, behind the veil.
How many planes
Full of captives in chains?
Where will they go?
To the cages of Guantánamo?
Will government try
To discover where and why?
… What would Bridget have said, had it entered her head
That this would be the destiny of the land where she lies dead?”

Afterwards, in the main booking hall, a continuation: a Ryanair attendant smiled with delight when she saw a small cluster of people gathering, “Oh good,” she exclaimed, “a poetry reading.” No-one complained; no security anywhere; just a brief moment in the warport for words to be given to travellers. A small benign gesture but nevertheless for an hour Shannon had become a civilian airport where people can talk and discuss the morality of militarization of peaceful travellers’ space in a country that still insists it is not party to the war.