But yet, even now, the deciduous trees are an uncompleted sentence on the crest of the hill. The cliff at the edge of the surging sea is a final full stop. And then, over there, on the hem of the horizon the unfinished letter ends in an inguttering of ink …
The quick of the quill is quenching, and weariness wends its way into the wrist of the writer …
The graveyard demands its dues … I am the Trumpet of the Graveyard. Hearken unto my voice! Hearken to what I have to say! Hearken you must …
2.
— … Who’s that now? … Who are you? … Are you deaf or what? Or dumb? … Who have we here now? For fuck’s sake, come on like, who are you?
— I haven’t a clue …
— By all that’s sacred and holy! It’s Redser Tom! What’s bugging you, Tom? This is Caitriona Paudeen talking …
— Caitriona Paudeen. You are Caitriona Paudeen. How’s that for you? Caitriona Paudeen. Caitriona Paudeen, indeed …
— Yes, that’s me, Caitriona Paudeen. You don’t have to go on and on and on about it. How are they all up above anyway? …
— How are they up there? Up above. Up above there, is that it? …
— Why wouldn’t you answer the person who speaks to you, Tom? How are they doing up there?
— Some of them are grand. Some of them are not so good …
— Yea, that’s a great help! Who is grand and who is not so good? …
— It’d be a wise person who would know that, Caitriona? It would be a wise person, indeed, Caitriona. It would be a wise person who’d know who was grand and who wasn’t. Wise indeed, no doubt about it …
— Don’t you yourself know, and you living right next to them, wouldn’t you damn well know if my Patrick is grand or not good, and his wife, and Jack the Lad? …
— Too true, they were just there near me, Caitriona. Right smack bang next to me, that’s true. There’s no lie in that much, sure that they were living right smack bang next to me …
— Come on, I said, show some balls. There’s no point in funking it here, any more than there was when you were aboveground. Who’s fine and who’s crap, spill the beans …
— Well, Little Kate and Biddy Sarah are often sick. Maybe, even, it could be said that they might be a little bit poorly …
— Great stuff! I never remember anytime when they weren’t sick, except when a corpse had to be laid out, or keened. It’s about time that they’d be sick from now on. Are they going to die soon? … Do you hear me? Are Little Kate and Biddy Sarah going to snuff it soon? …
— Some people say they’ll be all right. Others say that they won’t. It would be a wise man who would do otherwise …
— And Jack the Lad? … Jack the Lad, what about him? How is he doing? … Is your tongue tied to your teeth, or what? …
— Jack the Lad. Jack the Lad now. That’s him, bejaysus, Jack the Lad. Some people say he’s poorly. Some people say he is poorly, certainly. It could be the case. It could be so, no doubt about it … But they say many things that are neither here nor there. So they do. Maybe there’s nothing wrong with him at all …
— Maybe you would stop pissing around and tell me directly is Jack the Lad confined to bed …
— I don’t know, Caitriona. I don’t know, I swear. I wouldn’t tell you a word of a lie …
—“I wouldn’t tell you a word of a lie.” You’d think it was the very first time you told a lie! What’s up with Nell? … What’s the story about that bitch Nell? …
— Nell. Yes, right, like. Nell. Nell bejaysus. Nell and Jack the Lad. Nell Paudeen …
— Yes, yes, yes. Nell Paudeen. I asked you what’s the story about her, how’s she doing? …
— Some people say she’s not doing well. Some other people she is middling, others again poorly, no doubt about it …
— But is she? Or is it just part of her usual carry-on? …
— Some say she is, certainly. Some say she is, absolutely. It could be true, that’s the way it is. No doubt whatsoever that that’s the way it might turn out could be. But they say lots of things …
— Ah, fuck your gammy gums! You certainly heard if Nell was coming and going, if she was confined to the bed …
— Confined to the bed. It could be, you know. It could be, of course …
— Jesus, Mary, and Joseph! … Listen to me, Redser Tom. How is our Baba doing in America?
— Your Baba that’s in America. Baba Paudeen. She’s in America all right. Baba Paudeen’s in America, that’s true …
— But how is she?
— I don’t know. I honestly don’t know, Caitriona …
— Ah, come on now, that’s ridiculous, you must have heard some talk about her going around. Maybe that she wasn’t that well …
— Some people say she isn’t well. They say that certainly. It could be …
— Who says that?
— I swear I wouldn’t tell you a word of a lie, Caitriona, but I just don’t know. I don’t really know. There’s a chance there mightn’t be anything wrong with her at all …
— Who’ll get all her money? … Who is going to get Baba’s money?
— Baba Paudeen’s money? …
— That’s it. What else? Baba’s money … Who is going to get Baba’s money? …
— I wouldn’t have a clue about that myself, Caitriona …
— Did she make a will? … Did our Baba make a will yet? You really haven’t a clue what’s going on …
— I wouldn’t have a clue about that, Caitriona. You’d want to be a very wise man to know that …
— But what are the neighbours saying about it, or your own neighbours for that matter? … Did they say that Patrick would get it? Or would it be Nell?
— Some people say Nell will get it. Some people say Paddy will get it. Lots of things are said that are neither here nor there. An awful lot. I wouldn’t have a clue myself who’ll get it. It would be a wise man who’d know that …
— You cheapskate chancer! Everyone else had something to say before you came along. What’s with Fireside Tom? … Fireside Tom. Do you get me? …
— I hear you, Caitriona. I hear you no problem. Fireside Tom. By all that’s holy, there’s someone of that name there alright, I’m sure about that. There’s not a word of a lie in that much, there’s someone called Fireside Tom alright …
— Where is he now? …
— He’s in your town land, Caitriona. Where else would he be? He’s there in your town land. I thought you knew full well where he was, Caitriona. He was there in your town land all the time, every day, or so it seems to me, isn’t that so? …
— Gum boils on your grin! What I asked was, where is he now? … Where is Fireside Tom right now? …
— I don’t really know, unless I was to tell you a lie about where he is now, Caitriona. If I knew what time of the day it is now, but I don’t. No I don’t. He could be …
— But before you died, where was he? …
— In your town land, Caitriona. He was in your town land all the time, certainly. In your town land, I swear …
— But in what house? …
— I haven’t a breeze really, Caitriona …
— But you’d know if he’d left his own house because of rain or a leak or anything …
— Some people say he’s in Nell’s house. Some people say he’s in Paddy’s house. They say lots of things …
— But he’s not in his own house? … Do you hear me? Fireside Tom is not in his own house? …