Patrick became a saint
Far from his home
A captive from England
A slave to the Irish
Something that sounds
Ridiculous today.

Patrick took away
The pagan religion
From the Irish folk
So they honour him today
For making them Christians
A religion that eventually
Parted their country
The snakeless island
Overshadowed with war
Fights and pain
There was nothing to gain
From Patrick the Saint.

But the English today
Aren’t destined to be slaves
So the pages turned
And Patrick the slave
Became saint to the Irish.

        © Séamus Kennan / 2017