poem “Once They were Moved to This Foreign Land”, a poem about the history of Saint Patrick, how he became a saint and because they believe he dies on March 17th, this is the day they celebrate him, along with the theory that when the Irish came to the United States they were so strongly discriminated against that they decided to choose this day as a change to bring the Irish together and they could commiserate with each other, and how it had grown to a day where everyone like to claim to be Irish so they can drink and celebrate together, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading some of her poem “Time, Time, Time, See What’s Become of Me” from her 2015 birthday celebration and from her 2014-2015 poetry performance art book “A Year-Long Journey”, then her poems, “Once They were Moved to This Foreign Land” (written on St. Patrick’s Day) and “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window” (written 3/12, on National Alfred Hitchcock Day), at “Poetry Aloud” 3/23/19 (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading some of her poem “Time, Time, Time, See What’s Become of Me” from her 2015 birthday celebration and from her 2014-2015 poetry performance art book “A Year-Long Journey”, then her poems, “Once They were Moved to This Foreign Land” (written on St. Patrick’s Day) and “Vanishing Psycho in the Rear Window” (written 3/12, on National Alfred Hitchcock Day), at “Poetry Aloud” 3/23/19 (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Flooded War Memories” and “Once They were Moved to This Foreign Land” (2nd poem written 3/17 for Saint Patrick’s Day), then “Zeal was Unbridled”(written 3/18, the day Hitler signed the Nero Decree), all read from her poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume one: January-June)”, during the “Poetic License open mic 3/1/20”, while hosting “Poetic License” monthly at Austin’s “Recycled Reads” (video from a Panasonic Lumix T56 camera and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr.

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Flooded War Memories” and “Once They were Moved to This Foreign Land” (2nd poem written 3/17 for Saint Patrick’s Day), then “Zeal was Unbridled”(written 3/18, the day Hitler signed the Nero Decree), all read from her poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume one: January-June)”, during the “Poetic License open mic 3/1/20”, while hosting “Poetic License” monthly at Austin’s “Recycled Reads” (video from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr.

See YouTube video from 4/26/20 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “March Forth”, “Equality for Women”, “Vortexes Indenting our World”, “Once They were Moved to This Foreign Land”, and “Oppression on Every Front” from the v296 “Another Lifetime” section of the cc&d magazine February-April 2020 issue collection book “Aiming a t Immortality” for the “2020 #poetrybomb” (filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

See Facebook streaming video live from 4/26/20 of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “March Forth”, “Equality for Women”, “Vortexes Indenting our World”, “Once They were Moved to This Foreign Land”, and “Oppression on Every Front” from the v296 “Another Lifetime” section of the cc&d magazine February-April 2020 issue collection book “Aiming a t Immortality” for the “2020 #poetrybomb” (Samsung S9 camera live film; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Tumblr).

Once They were Moved
to This Foreign Land
Janet Kuypers
3/17/19
For those not knowing
the ways of the Catholic Church,
know that people become saints
based on their lifetime deeds
(not necessarily their visions
they may have had while fasting
and only allowed to drink alcohol).
So, if anybody was curious, Saint
Patrick, according to legend, was
from England — but Irish pirates
took him hostage for six years.
However, after having problems
upon his return to England, he
went back to Ireland. As a priest
there, he actually converted all
of the poly-theistic pagan Irish
over to Christianity, which kind
of pleased the Catholic Church.
Now, in Catholicism, it seems
that every day is saved for a saint,
and March 17^th was originally
reserved as a day to celebrate
St. Patrick, because that day is
when they believe he died. Now,
I talk to men who were alter boys,
and they tell me they never
remember hearing the Catholic
Church ever make any mention
of St. Patrick, much less honor
him. So... this alter boy’s theory
is that when the Irish were
ridiculed upon arrival in the
United States, they thought
that maybe they would latch
on to this holiday as a way to
honor the Irish, and as a chance
to bring the Irish together.
Now, since some may possibly
say the Irish have a penchant
for drinking, the holiday really
caught on as a way to celebrate
way too much here in the U.S.
#
For me right now, living a thousand
miles away from my own home,
I was out drinking yesterday —
call it a pre-celebration for St.
Patrick’s Day — and I saw someone
wearing clothes naming my
hometown. I had to approach
and give personal props if they
were from the same town as me.
And afterward we laughed and
commiserated and talked
about our town for over an hour,
and it was great to connect
with someone from my past,
with someone with my roots,
even for just a little while
on one day. And as small
as this seems, as insignificant
as this may seem, a part of me
wonders if this is how the
Irish felt once they were
moved to this foreign land.
So whatever the reasons were,
and whatever this history was,
this one day seems to be a day
where everyone can claim
to be Irish, and it’s okay. Because
even if you’re not, unlike the
discrimination the Irish first
felt here in the States, this
is now the one day everyone
welcomes each other,
no matter our nationality.

my hand to an anim of jkchair