Ode to Forgiveness

Ode to Forgiveness. 4/9

Sometimes the hot boil of anger
needs to be lanced.
Let the pus out.
Let the clear fluid of hate
drain away.

Why do we hang on to
the infection that makes us ill?
Why poke at it till it is red and.sore?
Why allow it to grow visible to the stranger
on the.street?

Heal me gentle forgiveness.
Your gentle balm is for the wounded
and blunts the knives of those who wound.

Allow us to forgive, to give
ourselves the healing gift of forgiving
those we most want to never forgive.

Gentle nurse, allow healing to begin.
The strongest remedy is to recognize
the human face behind every affront,
and to see the.scars there as our own.