This is just a little personal story
When Kathy was a teenager no more
At the tender age of twenty years
She travelled to a Foreign shore
She landed in the Islands of New Guinea
A young lady from a Rural town
On a visit to be among the natives
And a Mission of small renown
As a Catholic she was familiar with Nuns and Priests
But here they were in a different guise
No longer dressed in surplice or gown
But in old shorts with mud around their thighs
She was shown to her accommodation
Which was a hut made from the leaves of a palm
Woven together to form walls and the roof
To keep out the rain and shelter from harm
Altho’ the hut kept out the weather
Strange creatures it did not exclude
Which were plentiful in this primitive area
Scary for one when in solitude
She’d woken at night to see things there
On the table beside her bed
Not just belongings or water in a glass
But all sorts of creatures instead
But a large size rodent was sitting there beside her
She’s never seen one as big as that
Not in her wildest imagination
A rat that was nearly as big as a cat
She imagined what it was thinking
As before it’s evil gaze she lay
Would she be the first victim
That this nasty creature would nibble today
All sorts of things went through her head
Whilst she stayed in the rodents glare
How many times had she slept unknowing
Of the creature watching her there
You may ask why didn’t she rise and run
Into the open away from the bed
It was because of a damaged and swollen knee
Or she may have upped and fled
So she thought to herself as she grabbed her pillow
Maybe she could take control
Of a situation where she was hostage to a rodent
And then her retribution could extol
Then as she started to lift her arm and swing
Onto the bed the Rat leapt
Running around on top of her as she scream aloud
Waking everyone who may have slept
Then in walked the Priest and said ”What’s going on”
In a voice that would never fail
To instil any Damsel’s confidence
As he grabbed the Rat by the tail
And threw the creature as far as he could
Then escorted young Kathy to the Toilet in the dark
As any Priesthood father would
Akin to any everyday occurrence
Or that is the way that it would appear
Always take control when faced by terror
And never give way to fear