Category: Videos

Hopeless Romantic

28/06/19

I know we didn’t plan it
Some people won’t understand it
Not gonna take it for granted
I’m a hopeless romantic it’s true
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do
To make you shamelessly swoon
Don’t say ya don’t feel it too
I’m a hopeless romantic with you

Some people don’t like flowers cause they’re dead when you pick em
But hey I thought that these would look swell in your kitchen
Listen I got a lot of feels that can’t remain static
It’s why I’m such a goddamned hopeless romantic
Frantically trying to slow down with my timin’
And gather these scattered thoughts of mine into a rhyme,
There’s a lot of love in this world but it’s mostly unsaid,
And I’m willing to bet that fuels a lot of regret,
So fuck it – I wanna sync up my heart with my head and my mouth to your mouth and tonight with my bed
So instead of being afraid of it being too soon
I’ll say hey – it’s been a week and I’m falling in love with you
If you’re feeling it too then just tell me the truth
You might as well make a little use of your youth
At this stage being coy won’t do ya no favours
So let’s go home and get noise complaints from the neighbours

I know we didn’t plan it
Some people won’t understand it
Not gonna take it for granted
That I’m a hopeless romantic it’s true
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do
To make you shamelessly swoon
Don’t say ya don’t feel it too
I’m a hopeless romantic with you

See that’s the thing about me, I only know one speed
It’s how with relative ease I wear my heart on my sleeve
Believe in something hard enough and you will see
The power that we have in how life’s tapestry weaves
I need to cause a commotion with this deep ocean of notions
I’m not one of those to just go through the motions
And I’ve spoken before – I don’t do heartbroken no more
The present gives too much, who’s even keepin score
So whatever if whether it lasts forever or never, right now it keeps getting better and better
Hey let’s get piercings together and maybe a tattoo
I know I sound crazy but so do you!

Does your boyfriend compliment you
Does your girl do the things that I do
Don’t tell me ya don’t feel it too,
I’m a hopeless romantic with you

I know we didn’t plan it
Some people won’t understand it
Not gonna take it for granted
That I’m a hopeless romantic it’s true
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do
To make you shamelessly swoon
Don’t say ya don’t feel it too
I’m a hopeless romantic with you

Poetry Adventures in Barcelona

24/03/19

I was in Barcelona to visit my sister and decided to sign up for the weekly Poetry & Storytelling open mic that runs Thursdays in Pub Limerick. Much like the one I regularly take part in back in Madrid, the standard was high and the people were lovely and incredibly talented. I was given a ten minute slot at the end and picked out three pieces that I thought would go down well, the crowd seemed to enjoy it and I had an absolute blast. The fact that I was just a little wired at the time only added to the experience.

Check out the Poetry & Storytelling Barcelona – Open mic Facebook page

A special shoutout to Wally for capturing it all on video.

“Ramblings of a Savoir Fairy” was the first poem I wrote for the stage and I actually came up with entire thing the last time I was in Barcelona back in October. It’s still my favourite piece so it was nice to bring it full circle and share it with the city that inspired it.

Whenever I perform “Squirrels!” I have to make sure I stay extra focused on whoever I’m talking to afterwards. The poem really highlights my short attention-span and I imagine they’re expecting my mind to wander!

You would not believe the amount of people that have come up to me to take my and scream “YES!” after seeing me perform this at gigs.

Afterwards Maureen, the super host and organiser of the event, asked would I be interested in joining the line up for a bigger night of established poets the following month (when sadly, I wouldn’t be around) and another one of the performers, Zaq Squares, invited me to take part at a concert that he was running the following week – which I would still be in town for!

These were honestly the nicest compliments I’ve received for my poetry yet and something I would never have expected. At his gig Zaq played a mixture of fun covers and his own superbly written songs and I can’t remember the last time I saw someone that good play in a bar. He’s on Spotify and is well worth checking out, and his charming short story about an inchworm that he read out at the poetry night is a pretty funny one too.

At Zaq’s show I was the half-time act. Initially I wasn’t sure how my poems would go down in a busy bar with people who were there for music and the craic, but they really got into it, and I daresay I had their rapt attention throughout. Having lots of them come up to me after to say how much they enjoyed it and what their favourite parts were was quite humbling, and of course we all stuck around for a few beers. Myself and a new Australian friend then ended up having a lock-in with the barman late into the night, don’t ever let it be said that you won’t meet interesting people with poetry! I really couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend my last night in town.

Yes, that is a Danny Dorito on my t-shirt.

As with the Open Mic night, I’m very grateful for the chance to have done it. It was a ton of fun and the confidence boost I got from the whole experience is helping me define my own style of authentic and unapologetic performance-poetry. The goal now is to work on a brand new set of pieces for when I’m back in May, and Zaq and I are hoping to run another gig together then.

Certainly, Barcelona’s hip poetry scene hasn’t seen the last of me.