Greg McVicker 
One Cross to Bear 
Humanity through Narrative Prose

Poetry comes from deep within and reaches out to touch another’s soul. Personal narrative poetry immerses the reader in the poet’s journey through life, in such a way that the reader is drawn into those experiences and can share in the poet’s feelings of elation or sorrow.Whilst a reader may experience a personal bond with the author’s compositions, those feelings can be shared with thousands of others all over the world. Poetry is a gift – unguarded thoughts unleashed by the poet with readers he or she may never know. That is the beauty of writing. 
“Using his distinctive style of storytelling by way of stanza and prose, Irish Poet and Author, Greg Mc Vicker, dives headfirst into the turbulent cycle of life. In “One Cross to Bear”, his latest collection of poetry, he takes us on a whirlwind journey of his years growing up in his native Northern Ireland, up to the present day in Canada. Poems such as; “Belfast City Asylum” and “Everlasting Homesickness” paint a vivid picture of growing up in war-torn Belfast, and the pain he endured at being torn away from all that he knew in order to start a new life in a safer, but foreign land. Greg writes unashamedly from the heart, reaching out to his readers and carrying them along the waves of an emotional tsunami. I have no doubt that these poetic stories have and will continue to affect untold numbers of individuals throughout their lifetime.”      – J.P. Sexton, Author of; ‘The Big Yank – Memoir of a Boy Growing Up Irish.’

Table des matières

Introduction When I made the decision to write my second book of intricate storytelling poetry, it was one that I was quite eager to get too. Since it had been quite some time from when I had first composed such intrinsically deep, yet delicate pieces that speak to the human journey of life, my mind was brimming with ideas that were simply begging to be written about. So, here we now are with that collection for you to not only read, but process.At the beginning of this book, your eyes will come to feast on poems entitled ‘Preventable Death’, ‘Beneath Golden Arches’, ‘White Feathers’, and ‘First Year Anniversary…’. Each of these pieces were composed in 2015 and 2016, yet their relevance across the lifespan are as important today as the day when I decided to put text to paper and breathe life into them.I should note that the poem called ‘Stolen Identity’, which now graces these pages, was written in honour of a fellow author who is acknowledged at the back of this book. I guess that shortly after writing that piece, my creative juices began flowing which lead to the composition of ‘Everlasting Homesickness’ and ‘Belfast City Asylum’, along with my first attempt of penning Irish folklore and mythology within the legendary tale of our Irish lad, Fionn Mac Cumhaill, and the ‘Giant’s Causeway’ as seen through my eyes.Within two weeks of this and in hitting the road on August 19, 2017 with my fifteen-year-old son, Ciarán, who was attending the WHL Calgary Hitmen Rookie Training Camp, this provided me with the perfect opportunity to scribe these pages. Within one day of driving, both ‘Beggar’s Boulevard’ and ‘Cave Hill’ were composed. A furious frenzy of writing began, and continued right on through to the following two weekends at his main training camp with the Virden Oil Capitals. ‘In the Name of Religion’, ‘Banshee of Dunluce Castle’, and a composition to my beloved pet dog, ‘Brandy’, along with twelve more pieces, I felt that the book was very much complete. But then came the design of the cover.Finding an image of a Celtic Cross in ruin seemed to capture what I am trying to get across in this and my memoir: not only do each of us have one cross to bear, but those same objects hold on to our scars throughout life. Whether on our sleeves and faces for the whole world to see, or perhaps tied in with the intricate knot work of who we are, our thought processes, grief we have dealt with, relationships that have helped shape us, or the footprint that we leave behind when our names whisper in the breeze. This brings to light why I have chosen the images that I have sourced to accompany each narrative poem, along with quotes from my first book and personal memoir, Belfast Child.Interview with Greg Mc Vicker, poet and author of multiple books including ‘Through the Eyes of a Belfast Child’Celtic Life International: Through the Eyes of a Belfast Child Belfast Craic: An interview with Irish Author and Social Worker, Greg Mc Vicker Irish Poems with Greg Mc Vicker:Novel Ideas: Greg Mc Vicker:

A propos de l’auteur

rish Author and Poet, Greg Mc Vicker, was born and raised in Belfast, Northern Ireland, during a period of sectarian hatred and a violent, political war known as ‘The Troubles’. Along with his siblings, his parents chose to leave behind their own beloved families, and their homeland, for a better chance at life and ending up relocating to Winnipeg. This began what Greg describes as an ‘Everlasting Homesickness’.

In his professional career as a Social Worker, Greg has focused his efforts in working with Canada’s First Nations and in bringing much needed awareness to their own daily struggles, social injustices and inequities.

Greg is unwavering in his efforts to shed light on various social injustices that people have experienced in their daily lives, both individually and collectively, but are often left to suffer in silence.