A hard thing

After II Corinthians 2:5-11

A hard thing, to pour

yourself, and fill, then

to see the pouring

emptied on to the ground,

to pour one’s self and

receive, in turn, pain

and disdain, pain

and rejection pain

and isolation, and then

to understand that

the grief is not one’s own

but a collective grief,

a collective sorrow.

It is this sorrow, this grief,

that is forgiven, and once

forgiven, then forgotten.

Photograph by Jakob Owen via Unsplash. Used with permission.