FROM THE SPLENDID PICADOR BLOG

Poem of the month - Doing Time

Introduction:

In 1994 I spent two years in a convent in Hemel Hempstead. I was hoping to stay forever. But on 22nd July 1996, the Mother General, Sister Angela Mary asked me to leave.
At the end of the two-year novitiate period, the community takes a vote to decide whether the novice can continue. Sr. Angela Mary told me that the community had voted against my continuing. It was a huge shock and I was very disappointed. Only later did I come to see that it was, valued.

I had joined the Dominican Sisters because I was so inspired by the combination of talent, holiness and wit that I encountered among the Dominican Brothers during my time at Cambridge, including Fr. Robert Ombres, Fr. Aidan Nichols, Fr. David Sanders and Fr. Timothy Radcliffe whose friendship and writings I continue to enjoy today. The Dominicans are an order devoted to reading, writing, teaching and preaching, where the possession of a rigorous and enquiring mind is highly valued. By the Brothers, at least.

Samantha Wynne Rhyddercha

Read the poem, Doing Time, which is taken from Samatha Wynne Rhydderchâ's forthcoming collection Not in These Shoes, on the Picador blog. It appealed to me enormously.