Alongside the Liffey
Statues of a starving
family struggling
to remain upright, some
failing, other attempting
to carry on. These life
like people a memorial
for those who died during
abject Famine years
when even the grass
they once walked on
was something they ate.
Dublin tour buses slow
down now as they pass
the site for thirty seconds,
just long enough
for cell photo snaps,
a movie maybe, then
move on at speed
to the next stop before
the banquet at day’s end.