The smooth red stone I took from the ocean at Odysseus’ birthplace
The flower I put in my second wedding champagne bottle
An old penny I’ve kept since the age of four
A memory of nearly drowning in the Colorado River when young
Snipping the blue umbilical chord of my first son
Examining the crude watermarks on Hungarian stamps at age seven
Teaching my grandson Joshua to talk at the age of fifty-nine
Stealing a bar stool from the old West End Bar at 4am closing
Discovering the stub of O’Donovan Rossa’s insurance policy
Hitchhiking in Alaska at sunset without a dime or care
Driving my father to the hospital for the final leg of his life
Smuggling hashish through Italy and Germany by train
Languishing in Cook Country Jail and waiting to be beaten by cops
Cradling my tiny newborn grandson Zeke in Maine on New Years Day
Reading Gulliver’s Travels and The Count of Monte Christo at eleven
Eating horsemeat in Zagreb with a poet from Scotland
Canoeing rapids on the Yukon River in a sudden thunderstorm
Sleeping in the Limerick City Park and being woken by Garda
Playing my best game of chess in a Paris garret
Drinking a bottle of Chianti while admiring Giotto’s frescoes in Assisi
Walking naked in the wind on Sult Island in Denmark
Reading that cricket Pushkin at four in the morning
Taking my children ice skating for the first time
Burying my tabby cat Pascal in clay up the hill behind my house
Teaching Hamlet for the tenth time and loving it
Driving down the road with my four-year-old clamping his hands over my eyes
And on and on through sunset and sunrise in a world so beautiful
That we should not let it end for others