Frank McCourt
From the poor slums
Of Limerick, Ireland
With a father who’s a bum

A poor boy who never lost spirit
No matter how dirty he was
Or how sick or hungry
Lived with his family's flaws

A boy who never lost hope
Growing up in a poor home
Whose mother was depressed
Always wanting more places to roam

A teen who lost so much
A sister and two brothers
Believing his father’s stories of Cuchulain,
Who saved Ireland like no other

A man who rose above poverty
And made something of his life
Leaving Ireland and becoming a writer and a teacher
Overcoming his childhood of great strife