Behind Hedges, Forbidden Activity
Once upon a time, and the back of a hedge…
Or in a country cottage in Ballinalee
Or a tap on the door marked the itinerant teachers arrival
To eager simple folk with a passion for Gaelic and Greek
In days when education was taboo for Catholics…
That was then… this was now…
Today, at the back of the hedge, children smoke, have sex
Skipping school in some Irish town
Itenerants today are not teachers, its an insult
To an educated folk who deride Gaelic, know no Greek
In a day when its uncool to be educated or Catholic.
But in another land…
A girl went to school, as many girls do
But in her land, education for girls is taboo
Irish girls return home asked “What did you learn today?”
Her parents got the news she was shot in the head.
But she survived.
A lone girl, who teaches the world, as the hedge school masters did in Ballinalee all those years ago, who risked all, to pass on knowledge to folk for whom education was forbidden.