The Waning
gan Rachel Helena Walsh
Born of original sin,
Bred on Catholicism.
Bountiful since birth,
Sacraments bestowed upon
White lace and screaming.
Haven’t seen a nun in years,
Tears and fears at the hands.
Confessed rehearsed soft sins.
The medals, the beads, the pictures hung.
Ceremonious celebrations of the sacraments.
The beatitudes.
The Commandments.
The good news.
The coming together of family.
Ingrained fabric of a country,
Ingrained fabric of a people.
Ancestral answers to generational silence.
Emigrating beliefs,
Living beyond the pale,
New temptations, old catholic guilt.
My mother prays, as she’s learnt to do,
Lights a candle, nothing anew.
Without family, without ceremony, without community,
Justification by faith alone,
Cut out the middleman,
Dial the direct line.
Pick ’n mix, pick your bits, palatable parables,
Love thy neighbour,
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
The shame, the blame, the clerical cover ups,
Generational trauma passed as penance.
The weight of it all.
Abuse, neglect, violence,
We carry the clergy through pocket and silence.
A prolonged poisoned papacy.
Ar n-athair a tha air nèamh.
No practice, seldom prayer, bless myself here and there,
Can’t remember the last time I was on my knees in prayer without pain,
Forgotten which side our lord sits,
A cultural catholic,
A questioning catholic,
Doubt as sin,
Swimming through currents of confused complexities,
Drowning me to a solemn stillness.
We find new communities, we rebuild beliefs.
Will I call upon the last rights when my time comes?
I’ll peacefully await my lost loved ones.
Mae Rachel Helena Walsh yn berfformiwr, artist a bardd o Iwerddon sy'n byw yng Nghymru ers 2005. Ar hyn o bryd, mae'n gweithio gydar themâu marwolaeth, canlyn, gwleidyddiaeth, natur a chrefydd ac yn mwynhau gweithio naill ar y cyd ag eraill ac ar ei phen ei hun. Mae ei chredydau'n cynnwys - Celf fyw: SOFTEN THE SORROW, A PLACE AT THE TABLE, RAGE. Theatr: CATHOLIC GUILT, DEATH AND DATING, Threshold. Barddoniaeth: The Posh Club (performance), HEART (book), To The Sea Festival (festival poet). Celf weledol: Norman and Judith, The Lust Series, The Bottles. Preswylfeydd: HouseMade, L’ART, NTW Summercamp. Mae Rachel hefyd yn gweithio fel cynhyrchydd digwyddiadau llawrydd, gan gynnwys: ARTISTS FOR PALESTINE, THE OLD LAUNDRY SOCIAL, madeinroath festival.
Cafodd y darn hwn ei gomisiynu gan CELF a Chelfyddydau Anabledd Cymru.
