When I was all of twenty-three
I thought to join a monastery
To free myself from earthly strife
And lead a contemplative life

I truly, deeply did aspire
To rid myself of my desire
For women: those that pained my heart –
And so, I vowed to live apart –

But failed to get all the way there
And start that life of work and prayer.
Instead, I found one like it here
Except, I can keep my wife near.