Gemini New Moon, June 15 - The Things That Remain
In the days leading up to the Gemini New Moon, I found myself paying attention to small things. Not because they were important in any obvious sense. Quite the opposite. A song. Specifically Bernard Butler's new song The Irish Goodbye , performed live on RTE Arena for RTE (Ireland's public broadcaster) 100th anniversary from the Irish Embassy in London. It's an extraordinary song. It didn't take me long to isolate the guitar part and make a dodgy tab, so that I could play it on the guitar. The lyrics are very good too. * On the same RTE Arena programme, Irish poet Ian Duhig read Na Spailpíní Fánacha (The Wandering Spailpín, depending on the English translation). Funny thing? Fada , the name of the Irish Gaelic accentuation mark, means fairy in Portuguese. But there's no fairy in Spailpíní Fánacha . Only hardship. A pigeon's nest. The pomba that has been nesting in the corner of the back veranda hasn't been seen since Thursday, June 11. The t...
