A jubilant optimistic record that respects its traditional songs while managing to make the modern songs feel very much of 2026. You can sense the band’s dedication to the pursue of joy in the songs.
Gene G. McLaughlin 2026
I am a snuffleupagus
Of questionable origin
Maybe not event real
Searched for by many
Found by few
Notable in its absence
Yet still creating presence
Gene G. McLaughlin 2026
A movie about love, time, loss, belonging, loneliness and their intersection. Artful direction that respects and refers to the history of the medium. Great performances that while subtle leave a lasting impression.
Gene G. McLaughlin 2026
Dear 100-Year-Old-Self,
Did the New York Jets ever make the playoffs again?
Did George R.R. Martin ever finish A Song of Ice and Fire?
Did Patrick Rothfuss ever come out with book 3?
Can you still drink coffee at 100?
Did it keep getting hotter and hotter?
How hot is it in the summer?
How hot in the winter?
Do we still fight constant wars?
How are any humans still alive?
Is it only you?
Do humans still laugh?
Did we learn anything at all?
Any fucking thing at all?
Please reply. We have no answers here.
Best Regards,
Gene G. McLaughlin 2026
A lovely, sometimes dark, sometimes romantic, sometimes amusing record of modern Irish Trad. The songs evoke much in a subtle poetic manner.
Gene G, Mclaughlin 2026
I would go on a shopping spree at Toys R Us in 1980. When I was a kid I always saw the advertisements for Toys R Us on TV and couldn’t believe that such a place existed. The closest one was far away in North Jersey. How could anyone get there? North Jersey! It might as well have been Oz. It just seemed impossible. Luckily my parents eventually took me in their orange VW fan on a pilgrimage to the holy location of adolescent consumerism a few years later, but it never lived up to my imagination upon first seeing the TV ads. Locally in 2026 I would probably choose the mundane location of Barnes & Noble.
Gene G. McLaughlin 2026
The data will not help you
When your house is burning to the ground
Your ROI will not matter
When all the bells and sirens sound
Safety is an illusion
You have been bred to believe
The spider is a capitalist
It’s his webs your labor weaves
Bring Jesus to the temple
Where crypto bros calculate rates
On their latest post engagements
Dealing in grievances and hate
Bring Jesus to the temple
To cast his light upon the scene
Of greed for greeds sake only
Asking all present what any of it means
He will receive no answers
From those fully absent of grace
Men barely acting of their own volition
In a digitally degrading race
They will howl about the blockchain
As he casts them out
Standing in the sun outside the temple
Will be slow moments of dread and doubt
What is to be empty
Standing in the sun
Your mind and body separated from your screens
Existing as one
Gene G. McLaughlin 2026
Image – Cleansing the Temple – El Greco – 1570
We are clay
Shaped by war
Even if we have never
Fought a battle
Or met
Someone who has
The grandfather you
Never knew
Shapes you
In his absence
Pulsing out the suffering
Seen
Across time
When he killed scores in the sun
Achilles did not know
But
When Patroclus died
He found out
What aristeia was
Simply blood spilling
Slowly pooling in the sand
Unmoving
The bringer of
Neither friendship
Nor grace
Back to him
War is the main character
In all our stories
Even if we never see its name
Written in our tales
Gene G. McLaughlin 2026
Image – Achilles Lamenting the Death of Patroclus – 1760
There’s a blockade starving Gaza
There’s a glitch on your timeline
Depending on your algorithm
Everything is either burning or maybe all is fine
I watch the young play college football
As ICE stalks outside where they play
From the seat I’m sitting in
It all seems a world away
6,000 miles from Gaza
800 from the football game
In measuring all the suffering
Maybe all distances are the same
Can you hold on to what you love
Are you part of us or them
What will they allow you to keep
When they calculate the sum
Of what your worth based on the parts
Of acceptable DNA you contain
Of your pigment percents
Of your gender preferences
Of what you view as sane
Is the cookout winding down
Are there hotdogs left on the grill
Do you have a headache from the day
Should you take a headache pill
You have tomorrow off
Tuesdays coming up soon
You gotta keep on working
Putting out off your mind what looms
Gene G. McLaughlin 2025
Image – Going and Coming – Norman Rockwell 1974
The passing of time
Perforate us with laden moments
Stinging like prickers
Upon the flesh
The eyes of others
Reflect upon us ourselves
Swirling emotion and expectation
Blotting identity on the skin and soul’s canvas
The passages of meaning’s creation
Are forever barbed and confounding
Yet down the shrouded twisting path
Lies joy
Gene G. McLaughlin 2024
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