Saturday, March 16, 2013

ERIN GO BRAGH


I remember how the nuns taught us.
Awkwardly, in their penguin uniforms they bounced,
immodestly showing their feet in attempts to stomp
their truth into our heads,
as if salvation hinged on
how a true Irish does the jig.
They had no clue their good intentions
didn't match any reference I had.
I'd never heard of such a dance or man
who convinced Ireland there's only one green path.

They did their best those nuns,
to animate reality of hell.
"Tongue kissing. What's that!?
 Something that to no lady would appeal."
Besides, it's guaranteed
anything beyond a touch of hands
gives rise to tongues of fire,
to devour a girl's curious zeal.

They taught of heaven too.
A tranquil place with palaces
where green meadows grow.
It sounded boring as hell, no reward
for all the acts of self-restraint
one had to unwillingly undergo.

Their holy focus laced
with ignorance and bliss,
never spoke the benefits to health
that eating greens invokes,
or the magnitude of damage
our carbon dreams would bestow.

Now as I think about those women so saintly,
I wonder if their innocence had such immensity
as to forgo a hero's grandiose celebration
a green mark of commemoration
by drinking a little Irish libation.






(Submitted to Dverse Poets)



22 comments:

  1. ha....stomping that truth in your head...filled with all you cannot, not necessarily what you can...while i did not go to that school, i grew up in that church...yikes...haha...i refuse to wear a white robe in heaven...and only will play the electric harp..with a big amp...lol...

    ReplyDelete
  2. oh smiles..met a few nuns along my way as well.. really nice ones and some a bit weird ones.. a glass of irish whisky doesn't sound bad at all...even for a nun...smiles

    ReplyDelete
  3. I went to Catholic high school and one of the nuns who taught there used to keep tartar sauce in her desk drawer b/c she hated it and would use it as penance.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I hope they had some Irish libation. The nuns come across as very sweet in your poem though I'm sure they had their stern side and their lessons may have been a bit misleading! Thanks. k.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ah, I'll drink to You, and all that has made you the friend we adore!


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    ~ > < } } ( ° > <3

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ha, wonderful. Yes, I also wonder how to describe heaven and hell.. when the tried to christians they tried to scare them with hell, and said that was a very hot place, and the Vikings saw no reason to change. Their hell as a cold and dampl place...

    ReplyDelete
  7. Catholics aren't known for abstinence, although maybe priests indulge in whiskey more than the nuns. Anyway, I enjoyed your poem.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Ha..ha..I remember my growing up days with those nuns, but really, its funny how those early teachings influence me and my schoolmates to first believe it, then later on to fling it aside ~ Cheers to you ~

    ReplyDelete
  9. Myrna, when I first started teaching I had an apartment across from a Catholic school. Next to us lived an apartment full of nuns who taught at the school. Let me just say that I know for a FACT that these nuns enjoyed a bit of wine! (I don't know about whiskey!) How do I know? We all shared the same garbage day........I think they had a good time in their own way.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I resisted going to a convent school on the grounds there were no boys. A couple of sisters used to visit us, and taught me a card game, I've since forgotten, called "chasing the devil".

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love the mental image of nuns doing the jig. I never saw that happen! Love the photo of the "feckin" whiskey. Hee hee.

    ReplyDelete
  12. ...i once lived with nuns back on my kiddo years... and i tell you they are all that & more... they make better company...and fun... and oh, yes, most of the irritating... ha... thank goodness i had escaped those time of yore... smiles...

    ReplyDelete
  13. SlĂ inte Myrna!!! Irish nuns, that must've been intense!!! Lovely to read you :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. So cute and so familiar. Back in my nun-days the only good stuff we got was if we had the flu. As the nurse, I made the hot toddy's and of course I had to make sure they were okay. Things changed with most orders over the years. Not where I was...so I did!

    ReplyDelete
  15. What an experience. Yeesh. Glad you survived!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I love your depiction of heaven as boring as hell! I can only imagine their feet stomping about... and how they could not have known what the word GREEN would mean to us now. Thank you Myrna for your constant support and patience, waiting for me to visit. You are wonderful friend!

    ReplyDelete
  17. That was GREAT Myrna. I can't stop smiling. I lasted one year in catholic school. I got into a bit of trouble and was asked not to return. the sisters didn't like the idea of me bringing a snake I found in the garden with me in my bookbag. silly penguins indeed!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ah memories honey...those poor nuns...how awful life must have been...so young...sent to the other side of the world...no teacher training...the heat in those outfits!
    ps love to you dearest...

    ReplyDelete
  19. I always wondered how it would be to be taught by nuns.;) But I guess it must have been similar to have been indoctrinated by the teachers of communism.;))
    Lovely writing as always.;)
    Have a great weekend dear Myrna,
    xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  20. This one was such a fun poem! Great work Myrna :)

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love this! It's playful and fun but has a lot of depth, too. You're awesome.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Myrna, your absence has diff been noticed!. Great seeing you on the mountain today. Blessed holiday, my sweet friend :-)

    ReplyDelete