Grandma's Ode To Easter 1916 Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

My grandma would say to us
that we should know our history
of struggle and strife

America was all very well
but never forget
the No Irish Need Apply
signs for jobs in Boston
that your grandpa
vanquished
by working for wages
as a bricklayer
supporting a family
until the Friday afternoon
that summer
when the scaffold collapsed

Your uncles went against
my counsel and enlisted
in the armed forces
to fight in Europe and Asia

Strikebreakers and thugs
I called them in my ire
until they came home
with flags on their coffins
God forgive me!

Now I think grandma knew
in her heart that her sons
would have faced the rifles
of the British troops in Dublin
on Easter Day 1916
with as much courage
as they did the fire
of Axis troops!