Tag: forgiveness

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How Isabella Conquers Her World

you have descended

from indigenous medicine women

and girl scout goddesses

you came into this life

with power that takes growing

into

head held high

with strong female role models

confidence you will cultivate

by surviving pain

rising to challenges

you’re finding out

you’re stronger than you know

by

creating your own peace

owning your joy

making happiness your choice

remembering you have endured

their belittling words

because

they need to feel better than you

because they have nothing to be proud

how sad is that

pity them

waste no time on bitterness

take comfort

people like this are their own reward

you will rise above their words

you will outlive their petty hearts

the world fears all shades of women and girls

who believe in themselves

do not ever give a bad person

the power

to make you feel like

you are less

to make you ashamed of the way you are woven into the fabric of our universe

or that it is anything but

perfectly divine

to be you

Categories
analysis art behavior civility communication history humanity life literature Uncategorized

with interest

the passage of time

offers no absolution

for an apology owed

though the debtor’s heart

may forgive

a bill remains past due

gone over

into collections

 

Categories
Lent poetry religion

judas

for a friend in need

on forgiveness sunday

.

excuse the deeds

but never forget

a devil hanging crooked paintings

in the details

.

serving a gathering

at the supper table

cyanide bread

&

antifreeze

dripped quietly

into the wine vessel

 

Categories
art books childhood ecology education Jazz Music nature

the way wars make windows

you were standing there
enjoying a cigarette
the orchestral way you do
as i came around the corner

i stood still to watch
the uprising

it’s a part of your machine
and i accept that
the consensus view is
if you quit now
you’d die of not smoking

never having expected
to see you again
it was all the more overwhelming
to find you looking so beautiful

succumbing to the desire
of examining every inch of your skin
to verify
it is
as i left it

i thought i loved you
but i realize now i didn’t
i wanted you to fuck me
every moment of the rest of our lives
the final glorious act
in the perpetual stage show
you are
we were
together

but don’t blame singing sirens
or my absent daddy
they can’t help being dead myths

on the contrary

it was how deep our tongues
were buried
in conversation

the way we instinctively knew
how to kiss
mouth to mind

bend me over and teach me
yes, all of that

but i didn’t love you
or our silver-trimmed matching sets
of unrealistic expectations

in fact i came to hate you

i’ve forgiven you
i’ve forgiven me
and the death
i chose to take up with
thereafter
but i’ll never forgive your mother

i now find myself
clear of mind
and intentions

if these things happen
they happen
immediately
you said

that being the case
and the blue of your eyes
withstanding

i promise to be a better me
and not to love you
the way wars make windows

Categories
Jazz Music poetry Short Stories Uncategorized Urban Legends writing

green glass

i went to a cathedral today
knelt on red velvet
in a vestibule
of a religion
not my own

lit a green glass votive candle
the same color as your eyes

i’ve finally forgiven you

but maybe i only came by that
because i defeated you

in the process
helped save another person’s life

my lips needed no intermediary
speaking directly to grace

i prayed for the salvation
of your undeserving soul

my steady hand
dropped a two dollar bill
in the donation box
remembering
what together felt like

the only thing you ever said to me of value
as we counted church steeples
from a high rise window
in downtown cincinnati
was

a person must have unwavering faith

i no longer believe in you

and though i don’t claim to know what it is

i believe

in the goodness of god

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Jazz Music poetry Short Stories Uncategorized Urban Legends writing

thank god it’s christmas

this is the night
i must forgive you

not for your sake
or mine

no
i’m endeavoring to do this
for my sons

they don’t deserve
to have their mother destroyed
a woman laid to waste by poisonous contempt
numbed with bourbon and burning stakes

but see
i know you won’t get that
a mother loving her sons
and i’m sorry
it seems to be causing you a bit of trouble

but i’m tired of mourning you

i have somehow become
your unmarked grave

so
i dig deep
i dig so fucking deep
nails scraping dirt and jagged stones thrown
to remember

your sweetest
words spoken

to make me smile
in the darkest hours
whenever i was full of agony
distance or fear

even in mid-July
especially in mid-July

bright side ironic
you would say,

“Thank god it’s Christmas, eh?”

yeah, baby

thank god it’s christmas

i wish you endless peace

now i can walk away

Categories
Jazz Music poetry Short Stories Uncategorized Urban Legends

loyal dogs

the fact that we ceased
to be able
to care for each other’s hearts

failed to erase the need
to be loved

but we’ve remained loyal in our odd ways

such simple humans

becoming brutal dogs when injured

if only we shared their capacity for forgiveness