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I Forgive
I forgive my father
for not knowing my name nor face,
or that I soiled my diapers.
I forgive him
for the fat lip he never saw
from when I tripped over the sidewalk
on Madison in Lakewood.
And I forgive my sister,
(the youngest older one)
for keeping me out of tenth grade
half a year
with threats of foster care and Metzenbaum.
My mother,
I forgive her
for trying to sell me out
for a few thousand dollars,
maybe some extra perfume,
I do not know.
In any regards,
I forgive my mother
for my summer of homelessness
and the night in that jail cell
in March, 1994.
I extend forgiveness
to my childhood church
for taking one look at me and sneering
when I was 17 and goth,
and I extend forgiveness
to all the friends who came and went,
the users,
and the people
who didn't even know they were.
I also forgive the jobs
that drained the life out of me,
and the time away from me.
I forgive them for all the days
that felt so wasted.
Indeed,
I forgive my ex wife,
whose name I can't even say
for actively discouraging me,
and for doing everything she could
to reduce me to rubble.
I forgive her for angling herself
to look like a victim.
To that end I forgive
my eldest sister
for not being my eldest sister
when I needed her to
be my eldest sister.
Lord, I forgive
the church I used to pastor,
for throwing my lover and I to the wolves
and not letting me repent.
And I forgive Donna Greene
for her arrogant remark
that God didn't want me to.
Also,
I forgive my children
for being caught in the middle,
and making the decisions they had to make.
I forgive them for forgetting about me
from time to time.
Lastly, I forgive myself,
because God knows I need it,
although I still don't even know
what that looks like.
Comments
weirdelf
Wed, 2016-07-06 01:27
I forgive everyone
except the concept of an interventionist god.
cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry
Conect11
Thu, 2016-07-07 00:08
Cheers indeed!
I propose a drinking game, old friend:
(you know how this is going to go)
For every time I mention God in poetry, you take a swig of a beverage of my choosing,
and for every mention you make of how much you despise Him, I do likewise.
Eh?
;)
weirdelf
Thu, 2016-07-07 21:32
you're on!
but you can't despise what isn't real so you are going to get very drunk indeed.
cheers,
Jess
A new workshop on the most important element of poetry-
'Rhythm and Meter in Poetry'
https://www.neopoet.com/workshop/rhythm-and-meter-poetry
judyanne
Thu, 2016-07-07 00:00
I've read this a few times
Still not sure
I think I like it....
Rhythm and pacing great, logic consistant....
just not sure what I can't take to -- maybe all the 'forgiving'
The last stanza I do like.... although I would like to suggest a slight change.......
'although I still don't know
what that means' ...??
An interesting write
love judy
xxx
'Each for the joy of the working, and each, in his separate star,
shall draw the Thing as he sees It, for the God of Things as They are.'
(Rudyard Kipling)
Sparrow
Fri, 2016-07-08 04:24
Conect
Easy to read, harder to know that this maybe a life's story.
A very good picture of the thoughts that sometimes attack us as we ponder life and what it has done for us.
Ths is where we cant link to others as we never know about the true person or the imagined one.
This is one reason why we should form closer groups then the happiness or the tears from our friends woud be more real.
We need to draw closer to each other in some ways to share as they did in the old days when the classics were written.
Take care out there,
Yours as always Ian..
.
Give critique to help keep Neopoet great.
Unconditional love to you all.
"Learn to love yourself first"
Yours as always, Ian.T, Sparrow, and Yenti
lovedly
Fri, 2016-07-08 07:35
beautiful discourse and I also FORGIVE you
'b coz you have never read me too
hope you know me
Lovedly of Neo
a poetry child
of all those
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