Columcille's - Columba's Srayer Poem by Michael Maxwell Steer

Oh to be back in Ireland, at home
Again, lying on a rocky cliff,
Watching the ocean surge as if
To cover all the world with foam.

For then it chants our Father's praise
As joyously as when it's calm
And greens the song of land and farm
While birds descant the livelong days.

Yet when the thunderous force exclaims
It draws the mighty ocean beasts -
A sight few see and stay the same -
These worshippers at God's own feasts.

I didn't turn my back on Eire:
I was called to leave my hearth,
But now there's none with whom to share
My fear that I've no home on earth.

I pray the Lord my soul to save,
Tho all my sins against me cry,
That I might see the sand and sky
Of Erin's land I so much crave.

Versed by MMS New Year's Day 2018