Irish

The green on the beautiful hillside
Brings memories I’ve never know
Of family Geoghegan in Ireland

And all of the stories of old

My Grandma Ida Mae knew them
But never a one did I hear
We never could talk about family
For she didn’t live anywhere near

Though I didn’t grow up knowing
I come from the Geoghegan clan
I feel lucky to have Irish blood
And proud to be who I am

Sláinte - Pops 2025

The Tao of Success

You can have some success
because of what you do
but ultimately fail
because of who you are
You can have some success
because of who you are
but ultimately fail
because of what you do
Yinyang
Balance is the key
be kind and work hard
have empathy and achieve goals
be trustworthy and follow through
be curious and celebrate others

Success is complex
but the yin and yang are
authenticity and reliability

Pops 2025

Dear St. Patrick

We need you in America
The land now full of snakes
Too late we may realize
What will be lost IMG_5716
When the snakes have done
Their worst

We need a St. Patrick
To rid us of the snakes
Who will that be?

Pops 2025


Lost Love

In the beginning of modern faith

It was all about love.

 

In the early days love ruled

Love over hate

Greater than faith or hope

Both internal qualities, but love is

The collective over the individual

“They will know we are christians by our love”

 

How do people see christians today?

Fighting for the christian right

Fighting the libs

Fighting for pro-life

Fighting against LGBTQ+

Fighting wokeness

 

As with any group

You can’t lump them all together

But as a community

Christians were about love

Until the hate came

And then there was a cult

 

A version of christians

Focused on hell

“Sinners in the hand of an angry god”

Hate the sin, love the sinner

Reduced simply to

Hate the sinner

 

Many embraced this version

Though some never retreated into it

But settled in to help where they could

Now a new uglier version appears

Red-hatted zealots, foaming at the mouth

For revenge and to reclaim lost glory

 

Not the glory of Jesus

But the glory of religious freedom

That early christians didn’t seek

And Jesus never experienced

And yet he never gave up on love

To bring love’s kingdom to earth

 

I’m not in the cult of evangelicalism

I don’t believe in hell or heaven

A finite life of love is enough

And so I believe in love

Its power to heal

Even in the darkest of times

 

Right now it’s a fight for humanity

To dare to feed the hungry

Care for the poor, the sick, the immigrant

To seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly

And even in this red-hat, deep-hate world

The true way hasn’t changed

 

There is no path to love

Love is the path

 

Pops 2025