“Come,” you beckoning cry,
“Answer to your destiny”.
Away I quickly shy;
Mistaken identity.
But you give chase, and flee
I in any direction,
you’re there ahead of me.
I can’t escape detection.
Others, they envisage me
Helping save humanity.
They dare claim to know me?
Blind to my infirmity?
To intrusive questioning
I will make no admission
Thus avoid confirming
Their egregious suspicion
That for which I most long?
What is this insanity?
I aver, you are wrong.
In any case, ability
That this calling demands
Isn’t found in my profession!
These humble human hands,
No channels of salvation.
But yet you bid me come
Reach beyond my capability
To the radiance of some
Ineffable entity.
Not easy to persuade
My stubborn inclination,
But I know denials made
Lack the firmest conviction.
Seeing your searing glance
I doubt my sanity
Along an edge I dance,
What’s dream and what’s reality?
Oft now, within I’ll fight
Gripped by yearning passion
To reach towards the light
Grappling with indecision.
In return for all I give:
Bitter animosity
From those for whom I strive!
And answer with charity!
Yet here’s where life has led
Can’t resist the attraction,
Resistance has crumbled
Breached my will’s last bastion.
So be it. I open.
Mr. Cathal Kelleher, C.S.C., professed his First Vows on Saturday, August 2, along with nine of his classmates. He is originally from Kilkenny, Ireland.
