Today, I would like to share a few short poems on forgiveness. They are inspired by an encounter I had yesterday with a very special someone. I wanted to write about forgiveness anyway, I actually had it planned for today. My meeting with this person who means so much to me was serendipitous and it gives me the fuel to write more than one poem.
So, here they are, short poems on forgiveness, something that is not always easy to give, yet once we give it, a heavy burden is lifted of our backs. Asking for forgiveness is not easy for everyone either. For some it is harder than others. Some never say the words “I’m sorry”. Others have no problem apologizing. We are all different.
One thing that we can all agree on, though, is that keeping your pain, rage, and resentment bottled up inside will never release you. On the contrary, like yeast, it can rise in you and spread like a fermented brew. You know what it’s like to feel bloated, right? It isn’t nice. Keeping forgiveness out of you and filling your spirit with anger and pain is like bloating your soul.
I am not claiming that you should allow anyone to get away with using you over and over; that is different. When someone treats you badly every single time and you keep on forgiving him/her and allowing this to continue for months or even years, then it is time to leave and not look back. There is just so much you can put up with. We deserve to be treated well.
Nonetheless, when someone has made a mistake or hurt you, willingly or unwillingly, and he or she is genuinely sorry and wants to make amends, doesn’t he/she then deserve our forgiveness? And don’t we deserve to be freed from this burden too?
Anyway, I promised you poetry, not a blog post. So, after this introduction, here are my short poems. I hope you enjoy them. If you can somehow relate or you have a comment, let me know in the comments section below 🙂
****
Rage is blinding
Words are Slicing
Through flesh and soul
But forgiveness makes us whole
To err is human
Once, perhaps twice?
To forgive is divine
But …
To allow a series of blows, no, better take flight
And forgive yourself for
Permitting him to hurt you more
Than you should have allowed
Time knows no boundaries
Time cannot defeat true love
Rage knows no victories
Rage cannot reach out with its boxing glove
After months of silence
Forgiveness gives us guidance
And bridges the months we have lost
A stronger overpass we shall, together, cross
Strength is in him who speaks the words “I’m sorry”
He who doesn’t fear to admit his mistakes
He who lowers his blade
No longer willing to carry
This weapon that has hurt my soul
****
Strength is in her who buries the blame
Who releases the pain
And welcomes him back
Freed from the rack
That tortured with anger and rancor
Lifted by forgiveness
United in their unbreakable bond
I forgive you
For lying to me in your rage
For the lances and swords your words became
When they reached me in hot pursuit
Striking me where it hurt
Like blood, my soul did squirt
A flood of confusion and pain
Like a band aid for this wound
I turned away from our bond
No scissors were sharp enough to cut through
This bond that has pulled us back together, no longer blue
But hopeful and tender
With room for forgiveness
And to ward off blows, a strong fender
Our hands will hold
Forgiveness is something not everyone can easily do and at its why they said to forgive is divine. Only a great and strong heart can really do that and do it wholeheartedly. I really appreciate this article and I am really pleased that you came up with such a wonderful article at the right time. Cheers
The virtue of man is to be able to do that which the Divine has always been doing toward humanity, which is forgiveness. Forgiveness is very important in our World as it helps uphold peace and it makes us more bonded when we have a clean slate about each other. This is really interesting to read through, thanks for sharing.
This is very refreshing and it’s thoughtful of you to write on a topic that I believe is very powerful and soul touching too. I liked the first part that spoke about how not too let a person hurt you to much. How not to forgive too much and get hurt to the point where you can repair yourself. Instead, stay away from them and forgive yourself for letting them hurt you. Is there a history to this?
Hi Jackie,
There is definitely a history to this. My ex-boyfriend indirectly inspired me to write these poems. Although we are no longer together, I believe that forgiveness helps to heal your heart and move on.
Forgiveness works differently on people. For me I am still learning to forgive, it is such a lesson in life that you get better at once you are older. You are right being angry and holding it in is just not healthy. What you can do is just to forgive and just let go. At the end of the day, you cannot change your situation but you can change you. Thanks for sharing these short poems, forgiveness made us whole indeed.
I agree, forgiveness is not easy to learn. It also took me a while to learn to forgive and not hold a grudge. Once you forgive, though, a heavy burden falls off you and you feel free.
Hello there! This is a very wonderful, soulful and heart warming poem. Forgiveness is something everyone should learn to give. Of course its not something one can easily do but the bible has asked us to forgive and forget so refusing to do that simply mean that we are disrespecting God. Thanks for opening our eyes to the beauty of forgiveness. It was a very wonderful poem and I look forward to reading more of your work.