Paenitentia
We can mortify our flesh,
wear our sign of confession,
perform our penance,
bear portions of scratchy sackcloth
so rough, so abrasive, against our bare backs.
Our sideboard now bears such a treasure,
three posies, nosegays, tussie-mussies,
bound in such pieces that would
love to scratch at our naked flesh
if we pressed it against our chests, our bellies, our backs.
Do we think of our past - our past’s own past?
Do we ignore all history
as we glance at, or disregard,
those posies, nosegays, tussie-mussies,
that sit in scratchy sackcloth?
(11 Dec 2023)
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