Old Stories

By Andrew R. Duckworth

In old age, she told old stories,
Stories about family,
Stories about old countries,
Stories about Sicily,
Stories about royalty,
About a family losing power,
Stories about great uncles
Making bad decisions,
Living by gun and knife,
Burning pictures of saints,
Stories about the promise of America,
Stories about Grandfather
About how the Irish need not apply,
About how their families escaping tyranny
Were not at first welcome,
Stories about perseverance,
Stories about meeting the man of her dreams,
Stories about sneaking out when she was a teen,
Stories about going to meet her soldier,
Stories about the war and waiting,
Stories about raising the nine kids,
Stories about my mum,
Stories about the uncles,
Stories about the aunts,
Old stories,
Valuable stories,
Some of them exaggerated,
Some of them hard to believe,
But all of them captivating,
All of them worth remembering.