Monastic Misbehaviour

They had a code of silence
at the nunnery which was,
by and large, well observed
except by two novices
who, as the meal was served,
felt a compelling need
to whisper or to giggle
only to be restrained
by the forbidding stare
of the Mother Superior
whose look seemed to say:
Be warned, don't you dare.
All they could do was wriggle
on hard wooden benches.
But when out in the garden,
far away from the cloister,
they reverted to being
two pleasant peasant wenches
free from any constraint
to gossip and to roister.
This is the sorry tale,
and one beyond dispute,
of two maidens who rabbit
instead of keeping mute,
who wait to take the veil
and yet can't break the habit.

© Luigi Pagano

From my poetry collection “Reflections”