It’s hard to recall my last Confession
and whether I finished my penance.
I went to Mass at Xmas.
Is it still a sin to sleep
with my best friend’s husband?
I know Limbo’s dead, is Purgatory still alive?
We are a Catholic country.
I believe in God.
I used to like the Crucifixion,
but I really love Easter Eggs.
A Catholic ethos for my child
is what I want. I send a few Christmas cards,
the price of stamps is way too high.
We are a Catholic country.
I never need a Bible,
there’s one on a shelf next to the dictionary.
How would I know it’s Old or New?
I don’t have an elephant’s memory,
but I do know an elephant’s trunk
cannot extinguish the Devil’s flames.
I believe in miracles,
I believe Jesus walked on water,
Ressurection
I believe in the Last Day,
in eternal salvation,
in Heaven and Hell.
We are all Christians
whether we know it or not.
It’s bad manners to talk about my faith.
This is a Catholic country.
I want my child’s First Holy Communion,
with lots of money, and a fancy party.
We both deserve new shoes.
A Catholic ethos in our schools
keeps children safe and saintly.
I’ll fight to the death to keep it alive.
What happens at home
stays at home.
It’s none of your business.
From Bath to Cork with baby Grace 
Good!!
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Good squared
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GeorgieDee from Perth, Australia listened to an audio recording of this poem (read by Dzakyem) and commented
“And Paul O’Mahony, your poetry is quite superb. I’m so impressed with your writing.
Mr Paul, I’m not going to comment on the content because I never discuss religion or politics, ever, anywhere, not in the classroom, not on audio.
but I absolutely love the subtlety.
What I’m noticing about your poems Paul is you often will use the negative space, the background space, to paint a picture, a bit like an artist using the dark colors to make everything else pop out, it’s almost as if you describe the opposite things to highlight the antithesis of that.
And It’s very subtle and poetic. There a little bit of irony in that
Your humour is very ironic when you speak.
I’m enjoying this profile monochromatic – it’s not monochromatic –
“Throwing things into relief with the use of the opposite space” that’s how I would describe your poetry.
It’s quite unique Paul”
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Paul, this is fabulous – I have found your blog (am Elle from Limor – Robert’s sis)! I will now be able to reference this in relation to the audio posts. 🙂
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Oh Elle I’m ever so pleased you’ve come here. And your words about this poem are helping motivate me to carry on sharing my poems here – and on the audio app Limor
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