Image Credit R. Wallace at ballaban.net
Brendan Behan /a Writer of Distinction
What a wealth in life we have been bestowed
In books of literacy
From those that wrote in noble ways
To be part of history
Like Jonathan Swift, James Joyce and the flamboyant Oscar Wild
For the work from them that’s known
As ink laden quills scribed out their words
And Ireland’s writer’s seeds were sown
Then came our Dubliner Brendan Behan
To join such a literary source
And become a worldwide playwright
That our great ones would endorse
He wrote abought the Laughing Boy
Of his hero you can tell
The charismatic Michal Collins
Who his family knew so well
His writing of the Borstal Boy was true in every way
As his experienced of such institutes are remembered to this day
The Borstal boy has carved his name among great writers everywhere
And his writing shows both sides of working class have got a lot to share
The Quare Fellow like the Borstal Boy became his pride and joy
They were written with true feelings that made readers laugh or sigh
But Brenden paid the price in life for his hardened drinking ways
And left us with his legacy of the greatness of his days
And even though his shortened life seemed almost in a tangle
His death left a deep writers void
As if all inspirations passed through a mangle
But his words rang out so very clear
To review his final angle
Now we sing in praise to our Brendan’s days
And the old triangle goes jingle –jangle
All along the banks of the royal canal
