Universal Soldiers

by Sean Hallinan

You have heard tales of…
The genocide in Rwanda and Hutu — Tutsi hate!
But how much different were our own ‘Irregulars’
And the forces of the ‘Free State’!
Knocknagashal is infamous,
And Ballyseedy much worse still,
Where once those who were,
‘A band of brothers’…
Did horrendously maim and kill.

Reproduced with kind permission of the author. This poem was composed in Poetry as Commemoration workshops held at the National Museum of Ireland — Country Life on the 8th & 9th of November 2022. The workshops were led by writer Terry McDonagh.