How I See Great Britain

Sometimes I only feel in control of a situation, or a room, if I can clean it.  Like how it is when I clean my sofa with Scotchguard.  And this makes me think of the Scotland Guard.  And this makes me think of Scotland. 

Scotland is the runt of the litter- they are lost, but almost okay with it.  Southern Ireland thinks that they are the best of Britain, but their findings are unjustified.  And Northern Ireland and Southern Ireland have a bond, but they still don’t get along.  Like Ireland and England.  England is angry all the time, and this might be because they don’t dare to tap what’s beneath the surface.    And maybe that past life found itself into the playing cards of this very moment.  And I bet in the future they will wish that they can go back to that very moment.  And Whales is watching from the bleachers as the sky turns purple, and then they wish for a day tomorrow as beautiful as this one, and you might say they think it’s so beautiful because they don’t know what’s next.  And England is so powerful because they fear for their identity the most. 

And still Southern Ireland and England don’t get along, and England is jealous because Southern Ireland gets their thing by showing off how they are unique, in front of others.  I first realized this when I was on the train with some of them- the others, those from Europe, in particular Southern Ireland, where I am from.  I was standing up and holding on to the pole and a man to my right was sitting down, and he was decked out in purple, or was it pink- something formal, as he was wearing a tie, or was it a bow tie.  And he invited all the people watching him to look at him.  If people, especially those on the train, had bubbles surrounding them, this guy would have had one- that popped in front of our very eyes.  And everyone else’s would have popped too, or grow thicker.  And there was another guy that was from out of the country sitting across from me, and he just watched.  Hey, I am Irish, and I could never pull off something like the bow-tie guy.  But I know a certain type of people manage to all the time. 

My Perception of Europe, Especially Great Britain, Especially Ireland, Especially Southern Ireland

I am mostly from Southern Ireland; from County Mayo, and County Kerry, among other counties in the country.  My grandparents on my Dad’s side are immigrants.  I grew up with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, and I have a pretty good idea of what an Irish person is like.  I even know how to recognize those from the other countries of Great Britain, even those of Europe.  It’s kind of an instinct that I have, or at least I like to think I have. 

The other day (I am not pointing out the instance on the train that I have already written about) I recognized a guy that I was 95% sure was from England, because by the light reflecting off his eyes, I could guess what kind of an accent he had.  It felt good knowing how to recognize a person like that, but worse to admit that I might be wrong, that the look in his blue eyes, that his confident posture, that “other worldly” aura that he possessed, didn’t mean that he was from England.  But I guess there is nothing 100% certain about identity, except knowing where you are from- maybe.