Sunday, May 19, 2019

A named audience


After Luke 18:9

A named audience for the story,
not implied or to be inferred but
stated plainly and directly:
some (not all) 
who trusted (so far so good)
in themselves (whoa! We know
   where this is going!)
and what self-trust was about
   (we’re spiraling downward here):
their belief in their own goodness
   (yes, down the slippery slope)
with the result (expected and inevitable)
of treating others with contempt.
A coldness of self-recognition
creeps, wrapping its icy fingers
around our hearts, or enflaming
our self-trust in a defensive answer
or mutterings about this isn’t me,
is it?

Photograph by Davide Ragusa via Unsplash. Used with permission.

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