Year 12 Retreat Poem by Clare Walsh

On year 12 retreat
We had a lot to eat
When we got there
We noticed the fresh air
And the peaceful surroundings
At the beginning we were not to clear
To why we had something to fear
Our meals consisted of breakfast, lunch and din
With only but a few in between
The teachers were great dames
They let us call them by their first names
The talent quest was by far the best
All involved had the courage to get up and had a talent to share
While all the others sat on the chairs and laughed until they cried or sang along cheerfully
One night we had the sacred healing liturgy where we shared our fears Wrote them down on a piece of paper and placed them in a basket we all sat there still and silent in the dark waiting for the basket to come ‘round we picked up someone else's fear and read it aloud then we walked over to the cross and placed the fear into the bowl of water picked up a candle and gave it to someone who had not received the light of Christ
We were all consumed with so many different emotions
Some people were hugging everyone
While others just sat there not daring to share what they felt and what they got from this experience it was too sacred for them to share
There were some competitive spirits when we did the great race
Mrs Banting and Clare sat on chairs chatting until someone knocked on the door for the final clue
But we had to stop
Because it got too hot
Then we had the meditation session
Some people showed aggression
But most of us co operated and did the meditation
As a group we sat down under the bark tree while the teachers read a reflective piece of writing
When we received our year 7 letters we saw that our handwriting got a bit better
We laughed at our dreams and goals from 2009
By that time it was time to dine
The mask activity was great we had to share what we thought people perceived us as on the outside of the plate
On the inside we had to write and share what we saw ourselves as
It was obvious that Fr Duane prayed that there would be no rain
On the other camps it rained
So we claimed we had a curse
But I think its safe to say
We have broken that curse
At the end of the last day
Suddenly everything went grey
We realised we had to say goodbye
As we got back on the bus
It took a while to dry our eyes
This experience will forever be cherished
And shall never perish