The gift of St. Patrick

St. Patrick was taken prisoner by pirates
And brought unwillingly into slavery
To sit naked on a green hill in Ireland,
Wondering at the possibility
Of his deliverance
Until a voice came to him on the gaelic wind
And led him homeward.

At that point, Patrick did the unbelievable
And left the safety of home and hearth
And returned to the place of his captivity,
Unlike the ancient Israelites,
And made his prison his new home.

Perhaps that explains why St. Patrick
Did not find it necessary to God's plan
That he wander for forty years
In the desert of his own making.