The Boeing New Year's Day Swimmers Poem by Francis Duggan

The Boeing New Year's Day Swimmers



'Tis something that one should not do in a whim
To participate in the Boeing New Year's Day swim
In dark icy waters swollen by rain and sleet
In the river Blackwater near the Town of Millstreet.

In the depths of Winter in zero degrees
With frost on the ground in the cold gusty breeze
Just thinking about it does make me feel cold
But then again time has left me feeling old.

There must be great inner warmth in the Duhallow grog
For the Blackwater in Winter would freeze a hairy dog
Those who took part in the swim medals for bravery are due
To their Glacial Gods they would have to be true.

It was for a good cause that much I do know
But in weather that's even too cold for to snow
Without a single leaf on any deciduous tree
To swim in the Blackwater seems beyond brave to me.

Of the coldness of the Blackwater in Winter I do have an idea
And after such a swim one would need something stronger than tea
'Tis not for the faint-hearted is all I can say
And for the Boeing New Year's Day swimmers lets hear the hooray.

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