I sat and listened.....

 

I sat on the floor of the sitting room

as my parents and grandparents occupied the chairs.

I listened to their adult onversation

as they expressed themselves and their feelings.

A family gathering, sacrosanct and in

the confines of a secluded and safe environment.

 

I was at an impressionable age

trusting and eager to please.

I listened attentively to all that was being said

believing and accepting supposed truths.

It was my first taste of propaganda

as lies and prejudice were given full vent.

 

Earlier in the day two nuns had walked past the house

calling in at neighbours homes who were catholics.

Their mission was to collect money for the church,

for the work of missionaries and charity workers.

Within the sitting room a litany of abuse was spoken

as my grandfather spoke of a religion he detested.

 

It began with a rant which was virulent and accepted

as he said that catholics worshipped statues.

On and on he rambled about priests who

put the fear of God into their people and brainwashed them.

As his rant was spent he made his final pronouncement

Catholics venerated the Blessed Virgin Mary above God.

 

I heard this incredulous attack and no one objected to his words

I drew the erroneous conclusion that he was right.

Surely my grandfather would never tell a lie

as head of the family and himself a church goer.

The years passed and I realised that I had sat and listened 

to the voice of unbridled prejudice and a pack of lies

 

it was my first encounter with propaganda.

Later in life I converted to Catholicism

and have never looked back.