‘We were killing pigs when the
Yanks arrived.
A Tuesday morning, sunlight
and gutter-blood
Outside the slaughter house.
>From the main road
They would have heard the screaming,
Then heard it stop and had a view of us
In our gloves and aprons coming
down the hill.
Two lines of them, guns on their
shoulders, marching.
Armoured cars and tanks and open jeeps.
Sunburnt hands and arms.
Unarmed, in step,
Hosting for Normandy.
Not that we knew then
Where they were headed, standing
there like youngsters
As they tossed us gum and tubes of
coloured sweets’
(Seamus Heaney)
More Poetry from Seamus Heaney:
Seamus Heaney Poems based on Topics: Morning- Rite of Spring (Seamus Heaney Poem)
- Docker (Seamus Heaney Poem)
- Exposure (Seamus Heaney Poem)
- Lovers on Aran (Seamus Heaney Poem)
- Song (Seamus Heaney Poem)
- Mossbawn: Two Poems in Dedication (Seamus Heaney Poem)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: Morning PoemsBased on Keywords: pigs, headed, gum, coloured, cars, tanks, tuesday, sunburnt, aprons, youngsters, tubes