Recalling it
makes my stomach take a leap
the way it does when I miss the last step
and lose my footing.
It is the pain of a rough poke in the side,
leaving tender organs smarting,
but later I will find no bruise.
It makes me crave my lost religion
and the stern bogeyman in the sky
who can dole out retribution.
Decades have passed,
and I can only try to atone;
the gravity of the act
will not be erased.
makes my stomach take a leap
the way it does when I miss the last step
and lose my footing.
It is the pain of a rough poke in the side,
leaving tender organs smarting,
but later I will find no bruise.
It makes me crave my lost religion
and the stern bogeyman in the sky
who can dole out retribution.
Decades have passed,
and I can only try to atone;
the gravity of the act
will not be erased.
Now when I am tempted
to fetch a stone the size of my palm
and hurl it at some guilty party,
a person I find more wicked than myself,
the memory of the horrible thing I did
stays my hand.
M. Stone is a bookworm, birdwatcher, and stargazer who writes poetry while living in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in San Pedro River Review, SOFTBLOW, Calamus Journal, and numerous other print and online journals. She can be reached at writermstone.wordpress.com.
to fetch a stone the size of my palm
and hurl it at some guilty party,
a person I find more wicked than myself,
the memory of the horrible thing I did
stays my hand.
M. Stone is a bookworm, birdwatcher, and stargazer who writes poetry while living in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in San Pedro River Review, SOFTBLOW, Calamus Journal, and numerous other print and online journals. She can be reached at writermstone.wordpress.com.
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