I'll Make You Hope

It’s nights like these they’d come
Flat sea sharp moon
Long boats landing
Come to take the children

He was no more than a boy
Cut from his home
Shaved head; working;
A slave’s isolation

Months on end alone
To watch the herds
One night a voice spoke
And Patrick listened

I am the one who knows you
I am the one you’ll know
I made these hills you see and
I’ll make you hope

Visions of a tall ship
And a simple message: Go
Distant seagulls were
The next voice that spoke

He was carried from Ireland
Back to his British home
Never to leave again
His parents hoped

But one night in his dreams
A slave trader screamed
Patrick, help us!
We need the One who speaks:

I am the one who knows you
I am the one you’ll know
I made these hills you see and
I’ll make you hope

Notes: about St. Patrick of Ireland