Forgive me Father for I have sinned!
“Happy New Year! ” they all tell me,
But are not they as guilty as me?
Was it not just yesterday that I,
together with them was debased in drunken stupor?
And is not the lingering effect, the hangover
To last the whole year through?
How has this day cleansed me
And this year been made anew?
Was it not a week ago that I laid in adulterous pleasure
in celebration of thy son’s birth?
And on Christmas Eve that I heralded in a holy night that I left defiled?
Attended a midnight mass, the colour of my heart- pitch dark?
Did not I a month ago buy luxuries I could ill afford?
Had more than enough to eat and drink,
enough to lay waste to the pigs?
Am I not deserving of the stone of gluttony
and the vendor of liquor twice my cursing?
Shall I not die with the swine that thou have forbidden?
Why still does your everlasting breath pass on to me?
Saw I not thee naked and not clothe thee?
Saw I not thee hungry and not feed thee?
Saw I not thee thirsty and gave thee nothing to drink?
And when December comes again will not I the same things do?
When does it stop?
When really does the old year end and the new one begin?
Oh my sins, oh my sins, oh my many sins!
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem