The Balladeer

The bitter black soul
of the dissipated poet
set into the ranks
of the patriotic wordsmiths
the identity of a nation
born of the rolling green
and whisky-driven song
cast into a wide net
made into legend and lore
once every year the day comes
when the world becomes poetic
drunk on stories that are not their own
while the balladeer remembers
the world they have never seen
and a home their bloodsong sings – Caroline A. Slee