by Merrijane Rice
Pain is universal,
pedestrian even.
You walk a strait path,
grasp the iron rod,
skirt precipice edges —
then rejection sneaks up,
bayonets from behind,
and saunters off wiping the blade.
In the aftermath,
helpful folks salve your wounds with,
…..This happens to everyone.
So you stitch it up clean and tight,
and wait for tides of ache to subside.
But years later,
you sometimes neglect to be careful —
you stretch till the scar
pulls, ……..here’s where I tore
twinges, ….I wish I’d never
burns, …….why do I still
and you wonder,
not if God loves you,
but
if He hung from the cross,
scraping breath after breath,
willing heartbeats just long enough
to heal every unearned sorrow
along with all the world’s sins —
if He promised to remember them no more —
…..Why can’t I forget?