I felt fulfilled on a football field
Natural element
Was a talker too
Encouragement
Didn’t need permission
Or telling what to do
Or not to do
Played the game
Passed and scored a few
But life was a different matter
Once I’d gone away
Natural spirit snuffed right out of me
Formed for formal priesthood
Regulated life
Keep the rule
The rule keeps you
What a load of tripe
A long walk to freedom was my road
Forty years in religion
Was my load
Recruiting baby priests
Compulsory celibacy
Red card every time
Soon may it cease
Brian Fahy
11 October 2021
+ ‘Football promising’ was a comment on my first every school report card.
Erris Poetry 