Yesterday grim grey
Today bright sun
Cloudless sky
A day for having fun
How atmosphere conditions all of time
And can dictate the pace the feel the chime
It turned its face towards the evening sun
Its back the servant quarters to the road
A hill blocked all horizon to one side
Off the beaten track this vast abode
A country house of splendour for the rich
Became a college locked away from sight
A hot house of rural piety
No one came none realised their plight
Six years I spent in that forsaken place
Obedient to rules and lectures there
Human development not a chance
Not possible in rarefied stale air
Jesus and the Gospel was my aim
What I got was catholic seminary
Crippled me left me rather lame
Took me years of struggle to be free
The Church keeps praying for vocations
For a priesthood that really needs to die
New ways will come I have no doubt about it
The spirit knows far better still than I
Brian Fahy
15 October 2021
Erris Poetry 