The Quarrymen’s Ball

for Frank Harrington

It isn’t every man can stand back and look surely

to see all his life’s work carved out of the earth

every mechanical grind and wrench of sinew

dug deep as a canyon into the bedrock of his own land

And not just that

but to know that a million tons here and there

have been carried and heaped upon softer ground

in the laying of sure foundations

And it all started with one spade in the peaty soil

a President that wouldn’t pull a bird’s tail

the confidence that only love creates

and the backing of a friend’s solid word