Ireland – R.K. Lightfoot

A land wrought with famine and strife

I boarded the floating coffin, hopeful for a new life

Landed in America, the officers already waiting

Tales of wages and land, I joined without hesitating

Took up arms to fight for the American dream

But arrived too late for some, and held in low esteem

Me and my countrymen kicked to the dust

Yet expected to fight in their war, it felt unjust

Still we fought, but not for them

We went to search for a new home once again

With their enemies we found shelter and friends

America marched on, no intention to make amends

Side by side, with every battle we’d lose another

But with every loss, those left would become closer than brothers

Alongside our new brethren we fought hard and true

We continued to defend Mexico, from those that let hatred spew

But luck runs out and now many of us are bound by chains

On Mexican soil I am destined to forever remain

I shall never again see my homeland

Close my eyes to picture the Emerald Island

For the momentously moving Mourne mountains, I mourn

To never again walk in the graceful glens, I scorn

As they tighten the rope, I open my eyes

To look upon this new landscape, this different sky

The colourful and vibrant homes of San Ángel, our safe haven

Home to a people who proved themselves no cravens

Under the still unfamiliar, but marvellous Mexican sun

It dawns on me that I’m at peace, and feel no need to run

I accept the rope, and prepare to die

For to die protecting my new home, I take great pride

– R. K. Lightfoot

San Patricios is a poem about the Saint Patrick’s Battalion that fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American War (1846 to 1848). The poems name come from the battalion’s Spanish name Batallón de San Patricio, with the battalion often being referred to as the San Patricios. The battalion’s members included many who had deserted or defected from the U.S. Army, and was primarily composed of Irish Catholics, but not exclusively. The poem follows an unnamed Irishman in this battalion, who fled Ireland to escape famine and was immediately signed up to fight for the US in the Mexican-American War. But he soon becomes disenfranchised and joins the Mexican Army’s St. Patrick’s Battalion. He is eventually captured and sentenced to die. But before he is executed, the unnamed soldier comes to realisation that he views Mexico as his new home and the Mexicans he’s fought alongside as his fellow countrymen. Something he’s more than willing to die for.