On this the feast of the Little Flower I wrote my first poem when I was 11 years old

O Little Flower of Jesus, your stem grew strong with love
And filled the air with fragrance but meant for God above 
Please help me fight temptation but if I ever fall
Then Little Flower of Jesus I’ll need you most of all

That love for your Creator that shone from you each day
And sparkled brightly in a world where faith had gone astray
Still sets the sinner yearning for heaven as their goal
And shines forth like a beacon to guide the wandering soul.

 O Little Flower of Jesus your life has brought me shame
For I have shared the pleasures of a world that sneers God’s name
O help me find that sorrow for a dark and sinful past

Which isn’t just a moments thought but sorrow that will last.

Now you may ask what 'dark and sinful past' an 11 year old had, so I will confess.   I went to a birthday party at that age and they started a kissing game.   I found myself in the lobby with the most beautiful girl in the school.  So I kissed her on the lips and so enjoyed it that I broke the rules and forced a second on her.  Although I knew she would have let me have a third, I knew I had broken the rules.   Then I used to sit with Mary Brannan at the top of the class but she did not like me so I used to pull her pigtail.   It did hurt her, so we never talked about getting married.    Pat McGregor I thought I would marry but she refused me in no uncertain terms, so I used to stick out my tongue at her.    My sister was the bain of my life.   She used to kick me, and being neither a christian nor a gentleman I used to kick her back.   So you can see what an evil person I was, and I promised St Teresa never to have anything to do with girls ever again.    At least that is a promise I did not keep, I am now the father of six.  

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