Forgiveness

Forgiveness
I don't even know
What that word
Means
Do you?

How does it work
Exactly?
You forgive the man
Who raped your
Daughter, 
And then say
"Hey!
Just to show
That there are 
No hard feelings,
Why don't 
The two of you 
Go out
For a hike 
In the forest?"

There's 
No such thing
As Forgiveness
It's a feeble attempt
To mitigate
The intensity of our
Anger
And our Sadness
And even that
Is suspect

We gloss over 
The pain
With
Layer after layer
Of mildly pleasant
Experiences
Like painting 
Over a
BRIGHT RED WALL
With 
Coat after coat of white
Or
Trying 
To fix
A hideously broken
Wedding cake
With a big bucket
Of oozing
Saccharine icing.
The chaos
Still lurks below
And everyone knows it

Forget about it

There is 
NO Forgiveness
In the lives
Of mortal
Creatures.
Only God 
Has that kind of Grace
To spare
And even He
Doles it out
With strict conditions

No 
Man nor woman 
No
Imperfect being
Will ever find 
Forgiveness 
In their lifetime

Copyright © 2016 Daniel R. South 

All Rights Reserved