Patrick Fenton

Going Home

Squaring the Irish Circle

(A phrase Larry Kirwan from Black 47 taught me about)


Going to Ireland for the first time at 65,

just going back where I have a home,

because it is my mother’s home,

so it is mine, Williamstown, September,

driving through Tuam from Galway City in a

rented car to get there, rain always, heading

for the place she was born, old black and

white picture in my pocket on flight over,

drinking Jameson’s, Aer Lingus, what

would she have thought of all this? driving

past the long rowed, fields, through the

quiet Sunday morning streets of the small

towns along the way, the hue of color on the

building sides, Saturday night kegs in

bar doorways as I roll by, heading to

the still standing, old wall of the thatched

cottage she was born in, the white wash all

gone now with the years of rain, and the

mortar holding on keeping the stone brick

together, past the pubs, the lone grocery

store where they sell brown bread and

thick slices of Irish cheese, if you are

hungry, and I am, it is my Mother’s,

home, so it is mine. Up the country

road she walked as a child, I walk too.

And, yes, I will have a cup of Lyon’s Tea,

and a Jameson’s too. I am home now.

About the Author Writer, Author and Playwright, Patrick Fenton, the son of Irish immigrants, was born in the Irish working-class tenements of Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn on St Patrick's Day, 1941.

As a writer, Fenton's stories and articles have appeared in numerous publications including the New York Times, New York Newsday, New York Magazine and The Daily News. As a noted Kerouac scholar, Fenton's stories, "The Wizard of Ozone Park" and "Drinking With Jack Kerouac in a Rockaway Bar" are eclectic bookend perspectives of the great American author and his stories "Confessions of a Working Stiff" and "Stoopdreamer and Other Brooklyn Stories" a roadmap of his coming of age as a NYC Irish-American blue-collar Joe.

As a Playwright, Fenton's "Kerouac's Last Call" is a poignant look at Jack Kerouasc's last days in Newport, LI as he wrestled with his misconstrued career. Click Here To Learn More About "Kerouac's Last Call"

Now Playing on PRX!

News, New & Of Note! - "Jack's Last Call: Say Goodbye to Kerouac" premieres on PRX - The AudioPlay adaptation of the Patrick Fenton StagePlay, "Kerouac's Last Call" premiered April 2, 2008 on PRX - the Public Radio Exchange.

Click Here To Learn More and Listen to Jack's Last Call: Say Goodbye to Kerouac."

 

Also Of Note . . .

Click Here To View Drinking a pint with Behan and Kerouac - A story by Patrick Fenton

Click Here To View Almost Home from
"Stoopdreamer & Other Brooklyn Stories"