Paenitentia

Freeverse

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?

(12 Dec 2023)