The girl from the Magdalene Laundries,
her voice as lovely as Yeats’ gold and silver fruit
set out with a guitar and courage on a journey
to tell the people of Ireland and the world the truth.
To be a fighter and a seer is a lonely road.
She told people things they didn’t want to hear.
Oppression, tradition and illusions are a heavy load
to challenge when people live in ignorance and fear.
When Galileo proved the earth went round the sun
the Church threatened torture, showed him the instruments.
The Powers did the same to her again
when she shredded their unholy omnipotence.
Now she’s gone, some reckon what they lost.
They grieve, they praise her rage and chant her name.
She was a ferocious rebel and a sage. Who loved her most
must fight till the world she left is utterly changed.