Ireland's OWN Poetry and Prose

i wanted to believe
—by míchealín daugherty

the nuns, they told us god was all around us
all-knowing and all-loving and all-peace
but children suffer under heaven
whilst allknowingloving looks but does not see
and nuns, they play at nonexistence
their lives tucked safely 'neath the ivy and the eaves.

so instead i looked for faeries and for angels
summoned greenman from the darkened forest trees
i called upon the goddesses of sunlight,
gods of nature, wine and wisdom came to me
to pick faerie thorns and dance in faerie rings.

i tried it all; i wanted to believe...

but in the end i knew it didnt matter
the spirits hold our fancies at their whims
no omnipotent glory-flashing mercy
will save you from the horrors of this life
so 'tis better to escape head-first into fantasia
then face each stone-cold day on abbeyknees.