Located on the East River
In New York State
It was an independent city
Until eighteen ninety-eight
Becoming one of five Boroughs
This countrys' earliest municipality
Has grown to two and half million residents
And has attracted every nationality
It is where my husband was born
My grandma and her sister from County Mayo
Lived on Gates Avenue in Williamsburg
More than one hundred years ago
Brooklyn Navy Yard gave birth
To 'The Missouri'on which it is true
The Japanese formally surrendered
Arthur was stationed there in nineteen fifty-two
These seventy-one square miles in King's County
With a bridge that is over one mile in length
Is home to many famous people
Whose birthplace's motto is: 'In unity there is strength'.
[December 8th 2009]
NB: My grandmother's sister Hannah Cunniffe RIP traveled back to Ireland on the Lusitania and was one of the 1,198 lives lost when the ship was torpedoed during WW1 off the coast of County Cork, Ireland. Copyright: Pauline L. Stillman.
This poem is in my book Polyanthum available at www.amazon.com