Philomena

Who’s in that house there, look?
I thought I saw a light
flickering in the empty rooms;
who’d be in there
late on Saturday night?

Who’s in that house there – that
wee house belongs to my dad!
No one lives there now.
Should we go and check
it’s nothing bad?

Who’s in that house there – oh!
Was that a ghost I saw?
No, let’s just get on home;
we can let someone know,
and they can call the law.

Who’s in that house there – ha!
You’d think it was a banshee!
We’ll soon be on our way,
I wont keep us too long.
Come on girls, follow me.

*   Inspired by Thomas Hardy’s “Who’s In The Next Room?”

Sixteen-year-old female Catholic civilian, killed by Irish Republican Army (IRA) booby trap bomb left in a derelict house in County Armagh, formerly used as a British Army (BA) observation post.