MichaelMichael Nolan (b. 1950, in Dublin) recently retired from a lifetime spent in education. He was  Principal of a Jesuit Special School for nearly the last twenty years of his teaching career. He also studied Law and was called to the Irish Bar. He has lifelong interest in writing and literature.

A song my Mother sang

“Except when that tune clutches my heart”
“Begin the Beguine”

A song my Mother sang
But didn’t understand
For reasons forgotten
Sublimated in dance
A white woman dance
Nearly nun
Unvowed
quieting
Old God’s black thunder
Jitterbugging in
Parisian Salons

“And we suddenly know what heaven we’re in
When they begin the beguine”

Maybe she did.
We’ll see”, she says.