Embracing the spoken word
in poetry satire and song.
The learning of the Bard
can be 20 years long.
A love for education
but too many tribal fights.
Loosely a Celtic nation
whose war cry filled with fright.
That’s a Celt !

An entertaining storyteller
with a pride in oral history.
A hearth and home house dweller,
with a miraculous memory.
Spinning a good yarn,
provoking a smile,
with an abundance of charm,
used to beguile.
That’s a Celt !

Always provoking an argument.
A passionate opinion well expressed.
A diatribe for time misspent.
Witty dialogue at its best.
Always up for a fight,
never backs down.
To make a wrong a right,
a figure of renown.
That’s a Celt !

 A sense of honour in their code—
the underdog to protect.
The criminals and bullies to erode,
and their penalty to collect.
They can give a colourful curse,
their satire will put down.
Let’s act now, not rehearse,
and then go out on the town.
That’s a Celt !

In quiet times spiritually mystic,
but always ready to talk.
An apt comment duly caustic,
and make a sport out of a walk.
Their outlook on life philosophically blessed,
but tinged with a touch of malice.
Good fortune optimistically best,
and blended with a dose of devious.
That’s a Celt !

The consummate actor,
the politician, the clown,
all likable characters
until they fall down.
“Wildly fond of alcohol”—the Romans said.
They were seen to be falling down drunk.
A Celtic addiction curse in their head;
a destruction where lives  have been sunk.
That’s a Celt !

 Haunted by forms of depression
where they can’t raise a laugh.
They can fall in a fractured second
along the melancholic path.
The smooth talker and manipulative charm,
a tool of persuasion to the gullible.
It’s entertaining unless it does harm;
and then it can cause much trouble.
That’s a Celt !

With all this gloom we must redeem
the Celt who is not of this ilk,
one who is the weaver of many dreams
with conversations as alluring as silk.
Who enchants us with ancestral histories
with legends and folks who fascinate.
A wealth of mythological stories
for our imagination to captivate.
That’s a Celt !

 Surely humanity means more than possessions.
The spiritual ascetic who does not like trappings.
An inborn simplicity and gift for expressions,
who looks closely at nature and all her blessings.
Who knows that religion is not adornments,
or the dogma—doctrine surround;
but in moral and ethical requirements,
that is where it is found.
That’s a Celt !

Argumentative and boastful
chivalrous and controversial
courageous and cunning
honourable and hilarious
imaginative and impetuous
mystical and moody
poetic and proud
passionate and spontaneous
talkative and tenacious
versatile and winsome.
A basic contradiction.
That’s a Celt !