Mark's Pages

October 26, 2004:

I met with Napper Tandy, and he took me by the hand
And he said, "How's poor old Ireland, and how does she stand?"
"She's the most distressful country that ever yet was seen
For they're hanging men and women there for the Wearin' o' the Green."

My earliest memories combine a child's love for his mother's singing with profound moral outrage over the content of the song.

Green was my favorite color. I would have crawled inside it if it could be done. I wanted all my clothes to be green. The thought that evil people would make that illegal and would kill me for disobedience filled me with such white-hot indignation that I can feel it still today.

For instance when I read of Palestinian artists arrested for using the national colors in their works. Green, white, black and red: illegal colors.