A ghrá mo chroí

Sláinte chugat,
Saol fada chugat,
Nár laga Dia do lámh.

Sláinte.

An Irishman sent this to me.

Six retired Irishmen were playing poker in O'Leary's apartment when Paddy Murphy loses $500 on a single hand, clutches his chest and drops dead at the table.

Showing respect for their fallen brother, the other five continue playing standing up.

Michael O'Conner looks around and asks, "Oh, me boys, someone's got to tell Paddy's wife. Who will it be?"

They draw straws. Paul Gallagher picks the short one. They tell him to be discreet be gentle, don't make a bad situation any worse.

"Discreet??? I'm the most discreet Irishmen you'll ever meet. Discretion is me middle name. Leave it to me."

Gallagher goes over to Murphy's house and knocks on the door.

Mrs.Murphy answers and asks what he wants.

Gallagher declares: "Your husband just lost $500 and is afraid to come home."

"Tell him to drop dead!" says Murphy's wife.

"I'll go tell him." says Gallagher.

Happy St. Patties Day

Two men were sitting next to each other at a bar.

After a while, one guy looks at the other and says, "I can't help but think, from listening to you, that you're from Ireland "

The other guy responds proudly, "Yes, that I am"

The first guy says, "So am I And where about from Ireland might you be?"

The other guy answers, "I'm from Dublin , I am."

The first guy responds, and so am I "Sure and begora, And what street did you live on in Dublin ?"

The other guy says, "A lovely little area it was, I lived on McCleary Street in the old central part of town."

The first guy says, "Faith & it's a small world, so did I.! So did I.
And to what school would you have been going?"

The other guy answers, "Well now, I went to St. Mary's of course."

The first guy gets really excited and says, "And so did I. Tell me, what year did you graduate?"

The other guy answers, "Well, now, let's see, I graduated in 1964."

The first guy exclaims, "The Good Lord must be smiling down upon us! I can hardly believe our good luck at winding up in the same bar tonight. Can you believe it, I graduated from St. Mary's in 1964 my own self."

About this time, Vicky walks into the bar, sits down, and orders a beer.

Brian, the bartender, walks over to Vicky, shaking his head & mutters, "It's going to be a long night tonight"

Vicky asks, "Why do you say that, Brian?"

"The Murphy twins are drunk again."

Bottles in the Snow.

I will drop one more for you,
oh yes if you ask it of me,
even if you don't,
neither of us cares enough to care anymore,
when all words come in anger,
when the story becomes tired and predictable,
the characters drawn or overwrought,
the flawless sphere crushed to a mound of powdered glass,
when ideals once held are debased and ridiculed,
relics of a cleaner existence.

I will drop one more for you,
in crystalline purity,
frosted to perfection beneath the shrouded moon,
resonating the descending clarion note,
echoing through the shadowed trees,
slips silently cross the moonlit snow,
in times of deep reflection.

When all we care about turns to ash,
grits the path of our progress,
draws us further into the measured metallic clicks,
the constant whirr and clank,
the soft hiss of well greased bearings,
the roar of the ever hungry furnaces,
the thin film of soot and oil covering all,
I will drop one more for you.

pan-flash dusting green.

Spinning slowly,
silent and sanguine,
shapes and shadows cross the flickering red,
insides of fluttering lids,
kaleidoscopic explosion of color,
forsaking dreams and darkness,
conundrum of the senses,
twisting of light,
unfamiliar and unsettling,
collision of hope and truth,
eternal kata of terminal slipping,
spasmodic dancing finality,
a single moment sliding eternally through our hands.

Don't forget to breathe.

Unca Sam owe me da coin

Must be a sign of the coming apocalypse, the government owes me money.

The practical part of me knows that this unexpected windfall will pay bills, but a small and untamed part hides in the shadows, reaches conspiratorially into the depths of his soiled and ragged duster and whispers,

"Hey, you don't want to pay bills coz.
You really want to waste this on frivolity.
Whiskey women and wastefulness.
C'mon man, splurge,
the ultimate in decadence,
the Beaumont KMG series 10 with additional tooling arm, mounting plate, stepped pulley belt drive, additional wheel attachments and 5hp 210-240v electric motor.
C'mon man, you know you want it"

More proof that I'm getting old and stale. I use to dream of naked women, now I dream of quality shop tools.