Emigrants Suitcase
By Caoimhe Griffin, 2nd year.
Young Tom Roache
He wasn’t the smartest you’d see
He was really quite simple if you asked me
Finished school at thirteen
His future laid out clear
But Tom had hopes and wishes
And dreamed of better times
He didn’t want to live his life on someone elses terms
One day when he was seventeen
He said enoughs enough,
Took down his grandfather’s suitcase
And in it packed his stuff
His Sunday suit,
His new black shoes
His father’s old grey cap
A farl of homemade soda bread
His accordion with the shoulder strap
He got the train from Castlebar
To Dublin town so grand
From there the boat to Hollyhead
To England – The Promise Land
Over and back for twenty odd years
His suitcase still in hand
Til finally a one way ticket
Saw him back in Ireland
Last week I saw the suitcase
It’s battered and it’s old
Inside its beaten leather
100 stories to be told
Of journeys taken
Dances danced
Memories good and bad
The suitcase holds the story
Of Tom Roache
My Grandad
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