‘Poetry & Prose Performance Skills’. rainegeoghegan.co.uk
they lit fires, moved in close
dikka kie my carrie come and sit yerself down
yer look dukkered
me granny used to sit by the yog all the time
rubbin’‘er ‘ands then movin’ ‘em close to the flames
‘er skin turned dark and she said that the fire did it
dark raddi’s with no moon
only the brightness of the yog
great aunt bethy tellin’ a story
the one about ‘er great great granny margret
who drowned in a ditch drunk as a lord
‘er face down in the water
‘alf a dozen piglets running around and over ‘er,
them not seemin’ to notice
‘ands ‘oldin’ saucers of mesci with drops of tatti-panni in ‘em
all of the malts slowly gettin’ skimmished
Raine Geoghegan
Romani words: dikka kie – look here; dukkered – done in; yog – fire; raddi’s – nights; mesci – tea; tatti-panni – brandy; malts – women; skimmished – drunk.
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