Has your violence
taken you to places
I’ve not been?

Or driven you
to things
I’ve not seen?

Was your soul
mired in conflict
once raised from the dead?

Were your walls
built to fortify
excuses and blame?

Have your choices
been forged by
damnation and fear?

Did love matter at all
when it cried
through the pain?

Could you still hear its voice
on those darkest
of nights?

Are those places you
conquered
in tribute now shamed?

Did your victims
kneel down
their heads bowed in defeat?

Was mercy rejected
your mistress
defiled?

Has your violence
taken you to places
I’ve not been?

Or driven you
to things
I’ve not seen?

(Villanova Pennsylvania: April, 2015)