Author Archives: martinoregan

Because it really is the Best

Because it really is the Best

A little word of advice, if you’re coming to Ireland, go to Cork, and while that might seem like enough, don’t be fooled, the charm of the locals in the city is only a ruse, the real wealth in the county lies farther to the left, down west, but don’t let yourself be lulled inland through Macroom, that would be ridiculous, instead head south firstly, and let yourself be slowly drawn by the ebb and flow down down along the coast.
Seek out the tourist attractions, because well they are all that, attractive, and steep yourself in some of the local lore, and bia, and wash it all down, and raise your soul in celebration, but then let that be that, stray off the beaten track as much as possible, get lost, double back and as long as you stay close to water it won’t even matter if that two hours becomes two days becomes two years or two lifetimes and more, you’ll always be heading the right way, still West and South along the coast, hitting beach after beach, village after village, pub after pub and such, and there’ll come a time as surely as the sun shall rise tomorrow, when you’ll no longer give a damn about the destination, you’ll be so immersed in the journey.
Some people find religion, some find art, some others find home in another’s warm embrace, but unless you travel to Cork and then south and West you’ll really have found nothing at all.

© The Hairy Teacher, 2023.03.14, 16:18, Sam’s bar, Kinsale, and the sun outside splitting the stones (well probably just drying them off gently)

Kossuth 1 Pékség és Kávézó

Kossuth 1 Pékség és Kávézó

Is this really a place without match? Without compare? A place like no other? Unique? Individual? Groundbreaking? Earthshaking? You’ve probably guessed at my answer by now, or have given up entirely and scrolled on. But for those still curious enough, and if I can structure my answer according to the preceding grammar…

Just get on with it, would ya ffs!

Alright. My goodness.

Well, this place doesn’t stand out on the global scale of things but in this quiet suburb of Budapest, it is actually somewhat unique. It isn’t like the chain coffee shop further down in the valley, nor does it have that shopping centre vibe of that place further along the trail. It isn’t like the confectionery shops dotted about the place either.

So what is it then? It’s bigger than the smaller places and away from the shopping background of the bigger places. And that’s its selling point, in my opinion. A place to sit and relax and enjoy a coffee, tea, pastry, cake, sandwich, salad and a bit more. There are even products to buy like olive oil and other such oddities one would expect from a speciality shop. A place where there is more than enough space, seating, for more than a few and yet intimate enough not to get that study room air of the American chains. Perhaps you’ll find the odd laptop user here but my guess is this place attracts locals looking for a break, nénis and bácsis looking for a coffee and cake, workers popping in for a warm brew, but not so much the bench warmers bashing out the final draft of a thesis or looking for inspiration for their first book. Stuck in the cosy seats way back in the corner, a book to hand, and lounge tunes from the speakers, it’s anybody’s guess as to when I’ll be leaving. I mean afterall if I do get a bit peckish, there is plenty to hand and let’s not be quick to dismiss this, the jacks is spot on. Just one thing to note: don’t bother with this place come Sunday. It’s closed. As for the rest it’s all about the early morning start: 6 am weekdays, 6.30 am Saturdays.

Come for a coffee, stay for the choice.

Kossuth 1 Pékség és Kávézó

© The Hairy Teacher, 2022.12.19.

The last time I saw Roy

The last time I saw Roy

It might’ve been the last time I saw him

That trip up north along the coast,

At least at points inevitably so.

And in all its vagueness surely,

It’s still further shrouded by that doubt,

That almost disbelief:

Surely there was at least one time other.

But if there was, the memory’s withholding

Insistent upon the poetry of this –

The final memory,

The beauty and the beast.

I never cried on hearing he had passed

But stopped to think a thousand thoughts

A thousand reasons

Why our paths

They should have crossed.

But we didn’t know each other

And though I bow to some intended whisper

The wind is only pandering to

My own instilled importance.

We had become nothing to each other,

Just echoes of other worlds

That perhaps we’d wished we had explored.

© The Hairy Teacher, 22:27. 14/5/22, Az erkélyen, Bölöni György utcában, Budapesten.

Zöld Kancsó

Zöld Kancsó

Just dropped in for a cuppa between jobs. Had intended to take the Metro 2 downtown but having passed this place recently, and hoping to resurrect my exploratory verve, I chose to go to the end of the line, Örs Vezér tere.

A front area that opens to the street on hotter days, I’m currently being baked alive by the heat, such is my desire for people watching. There is a back area with booths, cozy, no doubt, for those sessions with friends.

Today, and alone, I’m merely absorbing the early afternoon sunshine and chilled out vibe. A radio plays hits from a time, and people come and go.

In front of me there lies a menu. Full of burgers, a veggie option to boot, a few quesadilla options, and sides such as onion rings and chicken wings. Oh, and the mandatory melegszendvics in a few flavours, ropi and other typical bar snacks.

It seems to cater to all tastes, from snacker to meal seeker, dare I say drinker to dancer. 

The Facebook page says it has a young people’s vibe but for now on a sunny Wednesday afternoon the average age is upwards of fifty, what with the old couple behind me and the border collie (dog years!!!) with its young owner farther down, and myself of course. 

For now it offers all that I require, a little peace and quiet, but I can imagine when up at Ikea next time, I might actually forego the swedish meatballs in favour of a burger here. I think the kids and Andi will agree. Let’s see😁😋😁

https://www.facebook.com/zold.kancso/

© The Hairy Teacher, 2022.02.23

A guy called Michael

You’ve been dead for years now
Something horrible I was told
Pulled from that watery embrace
Finally swaddled in the end.
You spoke of death as welcome
Your parents would be there
And the people who used and abused you
Would have no power in that place.
In the homeless man your memory
Through the visage, perhaps the light
But in a moment you were alive again
Till that thought once more took flight.

© The Hairy Teacher, 2020/9/11, 7.55a.m., Auchan parking lot, Kaszásdűlő ( work bound )

Encroaching Humanity

Like father like son
The coupled inheritance
The straight road home
Forever lost –
For never after.
The sway and stagger
Mapped out memory
Sometimes a storyline
Sometimes an emptiness.
The youth takes point
The aged no longer
Today as yesterday
Tomorrow too.
The patterns drawn
The models mimicked
The splintered eye
Remains untouched.
The saints stagnated
The devils drunk
Prometheus freed
From a bound humanity.

© The Hairy Teacher, 8th September, 2020, 18:16 a Bravos bárban, Kaszásdűlő

Another Mask

A little wipe
To wipe away the face
To not lose face
But still retain the mask.
To be the actor
On and off the stage
To hide the self
To never open up.
To repress all thoughts
While living out real dreams
Emotions hidden
Behind the silver screens.
The camera started lying
While the smile remained
The sorrow long ago
Breached that cool façade.
A tissue in the trash
All powder stained
The tears that never fell
Were never claimed.
So through the tunnel
Emerging otherwise
The mask removed
Remaining just the lies.

© The Hairy Teacher, 8th September, 2020, 17:45kb a Bravos bárban, Kaszásdűlő

Mephisto-ising

Klaus in foolish folly –
For what other?
Selling more than
the trinkets he’d receive.
Martin understanding
Yet surrendering
Wrapped in fine excuses
In exchange.
One sees the other
And dares judgement
While others too
And onwards down the line.
Selling out
And buying in
Are not dissimilar –
Retaining our hypocrisy
In the end.
A daughter’s words
That paint an anguish
Not believed
Calling out the adult world
Till told „shut up”.
At least a lesson taught
That was learned well;
She lets no silence
For herself to breach.
Challenging the ire then
Moving up higher then
There is hope
But teenage years lie in between.
The peer factory
That factors fears right in
A system built on
Rebellious rigidity.

© The Hairy Teacher, 7th September, 2020, 18:15kb a HÉV-en

The Stars Of Elsewhere

“One dream the less, one experience the more!” Géza Gárdonyi: Egri Csillagok


Let it go she said
But I couldn’t
And yet she whispered once again
Let it go, it’s gone, it’s over
I can’t I replied I cannot
My resolve stamped out on every single word
But you’ll have to she implored
And I begged why
Was it not enough to learn inside the dream?
When it’s time there is no turning back the clock
Ah, what machination stands so resolved against love?
It’s me she almost sneered, at least in memory
And I’ve decided that’s it’s time we said goodbye
Tis not adieu if I do not reciprocate
And neither love And onwards I must go
No I cried not this time, oh no you don’t
And I expelled her from my thoughts
Like umpteen times before.


© The Hairy Teacher, edited to finish Vasmacska kávézó Obudaban, 2020/9/9, 11:02 a.m.

A yoghurt later

Gatch up to Gellért afterwards
armed with a decent bottle of wine
and some munchies,
look everyone in the eye and smile graciously…
Then wake up screaming
in your bedroom
in that darkness before Dawn
and let the fear linger as you try to brave the moments
that stretch interminably before the coming of day
and your salvation
and again imagine yourself invincible till the night creeps in again,
the opportunities to move beyond the dream strangled again
and deny your fear as you down
a bottle of rancid cheap wine while
telling yourself you could have gone, you could have gone
until you can’t remember where
nor why it would have mattered anyway.

© The Hairy Teacher, Augusztus 19, 2020 (21:09, Fasor aka Jason)

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