#penance poems on Hello Poetry

D 6d

Wash over me,
Rinse away the sin,
I don’t want to be this,
Tired of the running,
Hoping the light never touches,
But I can’t keep circling the drain,
Encased in shadows,
Deafened by the refrain
Of my own voice dithering,
Trailing off into a distance.

So wash over me,
Shower my life like a wet hug,
Acupuncture raindrops,
Stabbing all my demons,
Exorcising my inner heathen,
Wrapping me in with roses,
Thorns picking as the blood exposes,
Need for your healing waters,
Pouring from angel eyes,
Weeping for my soul,
Crash me down like Zeus,
Tell me I won a prize,
Reprieve for my sad life,
Singing truth from all the lies.

Wash over me,
Let my sweat bead away,
And the cold cause a shiver,
So I can shake off the pain,
I want to live again,
Grow in your garden,
A snake eater in a new Eden.

Written while watching the rain outside my window

#rain #spiritual #christ #renewal #penance #healing

By Hemingway's Beard Feb 2023

shrove tuesday

perhaps it is apt
the first pancake
is always
a disappointment
stodgy
anaemic
without that light
crisped perfection
we've come to expect
it is undercooked
typically
as the ideal
frying time
is gauged
incorrectly at first
it will be
plated with
accompanying pleas
for forgiveness
and absolution
but as penance
someone has to
suffer this
pariah's offering
with each mouthful
comes thoughts
of apology
of atonement
of promises
it will be better
next time

#forgiveness #penance #mistakes #regret #promises #optimism #apology #atonement #pancakes #shrove

Nolan Willett Jun 2020

The Prisoner

Locked away, in tower grey,
The crime of innocence;
And in the streets, disarray,
Observed from the distance
Of a somber penance:
A sinister interplay.

#sinister #crime #innocence #distance #prison #disarray #penance

Michael R Burch Apr 2020

The Shape of Mourning

The Shape of Mourning
by Michael R. Burch

The shape of mourning
is an oiled creel
shining with unuse,

the bolt of cold steel
on a locker
shielding memory,

the monthly penance
of flowers,
the annual wake,

the face in the photograph
no longer dissolving under scrutiny,
becoming a keepsake,

the useless mower
lying forgotten
in weeds,

rings and crosses and
all the paraphernalia
the soul no longer needs.

Keywords/Tags: shape, mourning, bolt, steel, locker, memory, memories, penance, wake, keepsake, memento, rings, crosses, paraphernalia

#shape #mourning #bolt #steel #locker #memory #memories #penance #wake #keepsake

Sneha Aug 2019

salvation

i’ve dedicated my life
to doing penance
for sins i did not commit.
whose ledger is it
that i am trying to wipe clean?
i toil with desperation, as if on trial,
fruitlessly trying to prove myself
to judge, jury, executioner
that not even i know.
which laws did i break
in the checkered past only i see?
the glass shows a liar and a cheat
an adulterer, a glutton
a sloth, a jealous beast
they all stare back at me
as i try to exonerate them.
they all look like her
and she calls out to me but i cannot hear
she is muffled beneath their cries of innocence.
i shackle myself in their stead
and pay the debts of demons i never knew.

#salvation #penance #sins #guilt

Anthony Mayfield Jun 2018

At The Crossroads

At the crossroads, I panicked.
I lost my mind.
Torn between fruitful and guile.
The desert before me,
Oasis behind me...

How can awake feel so tired?

Then the man came to me,
Said he’s been here before,
Now he just helps the lost souls.

The desert,
The oasis,
They’re both just a status of mind,
And must be let go.

I told the man he’s mistaken,
I’m not lost at all.
A way home is all I desire.
The desert’s my penance,
Oasis inheritance,
After my time on the pyre.

The man laughed at me.
Said this brings him back,
Reminds him of younger days.
The desert,
The oasis,
They’re both just creations,
Distractions from true-hearted stakes.

I know it’s hard.
And I know...

I know it’s not as it could be,
Living prerequisite destiny.
So shake your chains down,
And dust them off.

On your own sacred ground, be found,
And be lost no more.
Let it go and let it out.

Let it out.

Don't take the path of punishment just because it's easier.

#crossroads #desert #oasis #destiny #chains #sacred #depression #ground #penance #inheritance

Aa Harvey Jun 2018

A kiss goodbye

A kiss goodbye

Death is creeping, while I am sleeping.
My final year, my final tear, my final verse, there is no more.
Death is here, I am full of fear.
I have no money to pay Death’s toll, for,
I am a mere mortal mind,
Who is lost in space and lost in time.
All I possess is an endless black sigh;
A half-hearted plea for a love-life without the lie.

Fix me once more, or permanently close the door,
For I am not yet ready to venture forth, into that long goodnight;
But forward I will march into the doom,
If I have to meet another version of the truth.
With all my might, I continue.
Let me pay what they say is due.
The work is not yet finished,
So before I am diminished,
And banished from this spherical giant we wander upon;
Let me see one more sun, let me raise a son,
Let me say all my final goodbyes,
Before all is said and done.

To any truth-sayer, please say “Have a nice day.”
I need the sentiment, more than the reality,
So at least before I meet my maker today,
I can say I broke the mold,
With every intention that lived inside of me.

(C)2018 Aa Harvey. All Rights Reserved.

#death #time #end #me #lost #sad #love #life #penance #desire

Ryan Holden May 2017

Vulnerable

Arising to your fascinating persona,
Sleeping to your colossal heart,
Gasping frantically, to reach the surface,
Trapped underneath the coldest ice, in the widest river,
Shivers down my spine,
Pins and needles through my heart,
Consuming me with fear,
Scared of the rapture,
Inner interrogation of mind,
Acquainting myself of new horizons,
But remaining lonesome and fearful,
Crumbling when in your presence,
Listen to my penance,
Would you be attuned,
To my vulnerable aching heart?

Scared to love again.

#love #scared #penance

Matthew Harlovic Aug 2016

repent

i found penance
in a pen and
transcendence
in a sentence,
i've forgiven
myself for
my past
transgressions.
i live in
the present
and accept
all there is,
ever was,
ever will be,
and all i forgive.

© Matthew Harlovic

#love #depression #life #regret #pain #thoughts #acceptance #penance