Ode To St. Patrick

As a child I wished I could find a way
To skip the joys of St. Patrick's Day:
Chauvinism rampant and coercing green,
To celebrate beer and Gaelic spleen.
That merry robed Pat, with uplifted truncheon,
He whacked scaly wildlife into extinction.
But history forced me to change my view,
To realize that I should celebrate too.
The Fifth Century was hard for a Romanized Celt,
Captured by bandits, into slavery dealt.
He labored, cold and hungry, in bondage pastoral,
Learning hard lessons how slavery's immoral.
Transformed to live a more spiritual way,
He heeded a voice: you must run away.
In his fugitive life, the dangers abounded,
Til by sea from Ireland at last he absconded.
In ravaged Gaul he developed his rough-hewn creed,
Then to Eire he returned to help people in need.
In a time when Druids played the executioner's song,
He taught capital sacrifice was morally wrong.
A lone voice against slavery, he sought abolition;
It would be centuries before others joined in his mission.
A non-violent warrior, injustice he fought,
To end the oppression that was Ireland's lot.
So to this man we should toast, esteem we should render,
To the patron saint of the public defender.

Steve Sady, Chief Deputy Federal Public Defender, Portland, Oregon