A more surprising saint there’s not <br />Than Abune Teklehaimanot, <br />He is my all-time favourite saint; <br />There is none other quite so quaint. <br /> <br />He spent his time converting kings <br />And once he sprouted several wings. <br />He was climbing down from Debre Damo <br />When he fell off the cliff with a cry of woe. <br /> <br />His friends believed it was the end, <br />But then he started to ascend. <br />Six wings he’d grown, quick as a flash, <br />To save himself from a nasty crash. <br /> <br />Three times round his home he flew <br />So all could see what he could do. <br />When he got old he lived in a cave, <br />All part of a plan his soul to save. <br /> <br />In it he stood like a planted tree <br />And neither the sun nor the moon did see. <br />For years and years Abune stood there <br />And never sat upon a chair <br /> <br />Until the day one leg fell off <br />This very remarkable man of the cloth. <br />Undaunted, Teklehaimanot <br />Just stood upon the other foot. <br /> <br />He kept that up for seven years, <br />Four of them waterless, it appears. <br />So now you’ll see why he gets my vote, <br />St. Abune Teklehaimanot! <br /> <br /><br />Pete Crowther<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/st-abune-teklehaimanot/
